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British woman dies in Madeira floods, Foreign Office checks for more victims
22 Feb 2010A British woman was among at least 42 people killed by floods and mudslides in Madeira, it was confirmed today.
The victim - named as 50-year-old Pamela Gaines from East Yorkshire - was apparently swept away in Funchal, the capital, when the taxi in which she and her husband George were travelling was engulfed.
Mr Gaines and another couple in the car were said to have received minor injuries but the taxi driver was also reportedly killed.
The Foreign Office was checking hospitals for British victims. It said: “We can confirm one British woman has died. Next of kin have been informed.”
The ambassador to Portugal, Alex Ellis, said staff were also trying to allow up to 2,000 holidaymakers to call home after phone lines had gone down.
Rescue teams used bulldozers to search for at least four people still missing.
Crews in more than 400 vehicles worked through the night to clear mud, boulders and trees in the capital Funchal and other towns.
A month's rain fell in about eight hours on Saturday, sweeping away people, houses and cars. Locals said the storm was the worst in living memory.
Firemen pumped sludge out of a underground car park in Funchal where officials fear more bodies may be found.
More than 120 people were injured, and 120 others forced to leave their homes were staying at a military barracks. The victims, in white body bags, were taken to Funchal's airport where a makeshift morgue was set up. Among the dead was a fireman who was swept away in a muddy torrent as he tried to save a woman, his colleagues said.
“The recovery is going to be a hard work,” said resident Miguel Eduardo. “It will take us a few months to recover.”
