Dozens die as flash floods hit Madeira

RESCUE workers dug frantically yesterday to free cars and homes buried under heaps of caked mud in Madeira, after torrential flash floods and mudslides killed at least 42 people on the popular Portuguese island.

More than 120 others were injured and an unknown number of others were missing, possibly swept away or smothered, authorities said, adding that they expected the death toll to rise.

Heavy rain lashed the island on Saturday, turning some streets in the capital of Funchal into raging rivers of mud, water and debris. The storm – the worst to hit the island since 1993 – also displaced 250 people.