Tributes paid to Britons killed in Majorca floods
TRIBUTES have been paid to two elderly Britons killed when the taxi they were travelling in got caught up in raging flash floods on Majorca.
The couple, named locally as Anthony and Delia Green from the south of Scotland, are understood to have died along with taxi driver Juan Sillero when their car was swept away by a torrent of water near the coastal resort of S’Illot.
Authorities on the island said 10 people, three of them foreigners, died when torrential rain deluged the region around the town of Sant Llorenc, about 40 miles east of the capital Palma.
Friend Emilio Dicerbo, 84, said everyone in Moffat, Dumfries and Galloway, where the couple lived for more than 10 years, would be “devastated” by their deaths.
The retired ice cream merchant said: “They were a very friendly, lovely couple. Tony would always get out a bit to the shops most mornings and we would have a blether.
“He liked to go have a game of pool, he loved his wee bit of potted plants outside his front door – he did tend his plants, very neat and tidy. He was a [retired] publican and headteacher.
“When Delia was out she would always have a blether, but she was very limited [due to poor health]. They were a very friendly couple, just normal. Everyone will be devastated.”
He said the couple, originally from England, were visiting the Spanish island for a holiday.
Some parts of the island had up to 9in of rain in a matter of hours on Tuesday evening. Witnesses described having minutes to find safety as water levels rose. The floods inundated houses, tore down trees, swept cars and trucks into piles of twisted metal and buried streets under mud.
Mr Green, 77, and his wife, 75, were being driven to a hotel in Cala Bona when the taxi was caught in the floodwaters, Diario de Mallorca reported.
Rescue workers reportedly found the car submerged and on its side in S’Illot at 2am (1am BST) on Wednesday. Military divers found the couple’s bodies still inside, while Mr Sillero was later found lifeless nearby, the paper said.