Spanish research vessel joins search efforts after deadly flooding

Members of the fire brigade search the area for bodies washed away by floods in the outskirts of Valencia (Emilio Morenatti/AP)

A Spanish research vessel that investigates marine ecosystems has been deployed to search for people missing after catastrophic flooding.

The 24 crew members aboard the Ramon Margalef will use its sensors and submergible robot to map an offshore area of 36 square kilometres – the equivalent of more than 5,000 football fields —- to see if they can locate vehicles that last week’s floods swept into the Mediterranean Sea.