Spain races to save victims as floods kill 95

Sedaví (Spain): Spanish rescuers on Wednesday scrambled to save people trapped by surging tides of muddy water in floods that killed at least 95 people, tossed cars and wreaked transport havoc.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez urged citizens to remain vigilant as the danger persisted and three days of mourning were declared in the European nation's worst such disaster in more than 50 years.

Heavy downpours and fierce winds have lashed Spain since the beginning of the week after a storm formed over the Mediterranean Sea, with up to a year's worth of rain falling in just hours in some areas.

The body coordinating emergency services in the eastern Valencia region announced a provisional death toll of 92, adding that bodies were still being recovered and identified.

Two people died in neighbouring Castilla-La Mancha and another victim was reported in Andalusia in the south, both regions' leaders told journalists.

The toll is likely to rise because "there are many missing people", government minister Angel Victor Torres told public broadcaster TVE.

A sea of piled-up cars and mud swamped streets in Sedavi, a suburb of the Mediterranean coastal city of Valencia, AFP journalists saw.

Stunned residents attempted to clean the sludge and grabbed buckets to bail out water from their homes ahead of a long night without water or electricity.

In Ribarroja del Turia on the outskirts of Valencia city, town councillor Esther Gomez said workers were stuck overnight in an industrial estate "without a chance of rescuing them" as streams overflowed.

"It had been a long time since this happened and we're scared," she told AFP.

According to Spain's weather service AEMET, the town of Chiva, west of Valencia, recorded 491 mm of rain in just eight hours on Tuesday -- almost equalling a year's worth