Anthony and Delia Green from Moffat in Scotland said to have drowned in taxi going to hotel

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The British couple who died after torrential rain caused flash flooding on the Spanish island of Mallorca have been named as Anthony and Delia Green, from Dumfries and Galloway.

The couple, from the town of Moffat, were both in their 70s and had been travelling in a taxi from Palma airport to their hotel in Cala Millor on the east coast of the island when they got caught up in the flooding.

The couple are believed to have drowned in the taxi as flood water engulfed the town of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar, about 40 miles (64km) east of Palma, the capital, on Tuesday evening. The submerged taxi was later found by the civil guard and the bodies were recovered by divers.

In a statement issued through the Foreign Office, the Green family said: “We are deeply shocked by the sudden passing of our parents Delia and Tony Green in the tragic events in Mallorca.

“Delia and Tony were a loving, kind and caring couple. They were at their happiest when they were with their family and friends.

“They recently celebrated 55 years of marriage. Originally from Atherton, Greater Manchester, they retired to Moffat fourteen years ago … The family take some solace from the knowledge that they died together.”

The family also offered their condolences to the family of their driver, Juan Sillero, who died along with the couple.

Rescue workers reportedly found the car submerged and on its side at the mouth of the torrent in S’illot in the early hours of Wednesday.

Military divers found the couple’s bodies still inside, while Sillero was later found dead nearby, Diario de Mallorca reported.

Rescuers searching for a German couple who have been missing in Mallorca since the flooding have also recovered two bodies on the island.

“We regret to confirm that the bodies of a man and a woman have been found near Artà, close to the area where the car of the missing German couple had been found,” the Balearic Islands emergency services said in a statement on Thursday.

The couple were last heard from when they called a friend saying they were stuck in a vehicle, according to the German consul on the island, Sabine Lammers, who was speaking on Cadena SER radio on Thursday.

Rescue teams are still looking for a five-year-old boy whose mother is thought to have died while trying to save him and his sister from the flood waters.

The civil guard said the body of the boy’s mother was found on Wednesday. She reportedly managed to pull her seven-year-old daughter out of their car before she and her son were dragged away.

One male victim’s identity has yet to be confirmed, although authorities believe he was not Spanish. The latest discoveries bring the death toll to 12 people after torrential rain deluged the region around the town of Sant Llorenç des Cardassar.

Spanish weather forecasters said 20cm of rain fell in four hours, causing floods that turned roads into rivers and swept away cars.

Witnesses described having minutes to find safety as the water levels rose, inundating houses and catching motorists off-guard. The flood waters tore down trees, swept numerous cars and trucks into piles of twisted metal, and buried streets under mud.

More than 300 personnel from the Spanish military’s emergency rescue unit are in Mallorca, along with specialist vehicles and helicopters.