Spain floods: 10,000 troops and police drafted in to deal with disaster

Pedro Sanchez orders largest peacetime troop deployment to deal with flooding that has killed 211 people

Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, has ordered the country's largest peacetime military deployment, announcing that 10,000 troops and police officers will be drafted in to help deal with the aftermath of this week's devastating floods, which have killed at least 211 people in eastern, southern and central regions.

Speaking after chairing a meeting of the flood crisis committee, Sanchez said the government was mobilising all the resources at its disposal to deal with the terrible tragedy", which stuck hardest in the eastern region of Valencia. He also acknowledged that much of the help still wasn't getting through and called for unity and an end to political bickering and blame games.