The two women who were seriously injured during the storm last Saturday in Roda de Berà (Tarragona) remain in critical condition. The Department of Health denied on Tuesday a piece of information mistakenly disseminated by the City Council, which had communicated that both had been disconnected from life support.
The victims are a mother and her 18-year-old daughter who were struck by the collapse of a wall during the episode of torrential rains that affected the Costa Daurada last Saturday.
Both remain hospitalized in critical condition, according to the Department of Health of the Generalitat. The City Council of Roda de Berà published a statement on social media on Tuesday erroneously informing that they had been disconnected from life support, a version that was later corrected.
The wall fell while they were resting by the port
The mayor of Roda de Berà, Pere Virgili, explained after the accident that the two women are part of a family dedicated to street vending at the night market by the port.
When the collapse occurred, they had already packed up their stall and were resting and eating. The wall that fell belonged to a house located next to the port area.
The storm left 11 injured
The episode of heavy rains that affected Tarragona left 11 people injured and caused numerous incidents in municipalities of the Costa Daurada.
Civil Protection declared the most intense phase of the episode over after counting about 800 calls to the 112 emergency number. Among the most affected towns were Roda de Berà, Torredembarra, El Vendrell, Coma-ruga, Creixell, and Altafulla.
The two women from Roda de Berà are among the most serious cases recorded during the storm.
The Government defended not sending an Es-Alert
The episode has also generated political debate due to the absence of an Es-Alert message to the mobile phones of the population.
The Government defended that the decision not to send it was made following technical criteria and because the available forecast did not justify an alert of that level at that time.
The mayors of Roda de Berà and El Vendrell have called, for their part, for structural measures to improve water evacuation during episodes of heavy rain and to prevent certain infrastructures from acting as barriers.
The opposition in the Parliament has also requested the appearance of the Minister of Interior, Núria Parlon, to explain the management of the episode and the criteria used not to activate the warning system.