The judge quotes as a witness a former Press Chief of the Generalitat who warned of the DANA 24 hours before | News from the Valencian Community

New battery of statements to clarify what failed during the largest natural catastrophe that Valencia has ravaged, the Dana that left 228 dead last October. The Judge of Catarroja (Valencia) who criminally investigates the flood, Nuria Ruiz Tobarra, has approved on Wednesday a new list of witnesses of witnesses to explain how they lived the colossal flood. Among them, is the journalist Héctor González, who worked in the Ministry of Justice and Interior of the Generalitat – the department that directed until its dismissal the accused Salome Pradas – during the flood. The popular accusation exerted by the Cultural Acción Association of the Valencià country attributes to this informant the sending of a press release on the eve of the tragedy that alerted the risk of the ravines. The communication would confirm that the executive of Carlos Mazón knew the magnitude of the cold drop – at least – 24 hours before the sending of the mass alert to mobiles, which arrived at 20.11 hours of the day of the thrombus, when they accumulated missing, deceased and people trapped in low floors and garages. The letter, sent through the system is alert, It has revealed itself as the cornerstone of the investigations. The judge argues that, if he had referred before and better (he did not ask the population to climb to the first plants), lives would have been saved.

« The Emergency Coordination Center of the Generalitat informs that, as a consequence of these phenomena, the activation of the river basins and local floods and local floods could occur due to those accumulated in areas of high urban occupation, » said the press release sent by the Generalitat on the eve of the Dana. The newspapers Levant and The provinces They published the information.

Although the Valencian government knew in advance the risk of the ravines, Mazón himself called the morning of the Aciaga Day of “Exaggerated” the decision to suspend the classes of the University of Valencia and predicted that the storm would move to the Serranía de Cuenca in the afternoon, when he reached his peak.

The magistrate also cites as a witness to Salvador Ramón, commander in chief of the Military Emergency Unit (UME). The Government Delegate in Valencia, the socialist Pilar Bernabé, declared in the Court that the Executive of Pedro Sánchez offered the UME to the Generalitat eight hours before it sent the mass alert to mobile phones and until 14.53 hours the former counselor Pradas did not officially request the intervention of this military device.

The Forata dam, apart from the tragedy

The instructor, in addition, describes as « authentic bulus » link the dam of Foraata with the flood of the ravine of the poyo, trigger for the tragedy, which when overflowing caused colossal floods in municipalities such as Paiporta or Catarroja. Francisco Vallés, engineer and hydraulic professor at the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), He held last week during his statement as an expert that the Forata dam reduced the impact of the Dana. And the former emergency director of the Generalitat Valenciana, the accused Emilio Argüeso, warned that the breakage of this infrastructure could have caused 20,000 dead, according to reports handled by the Mazón Executive.

« It must be ruled out that deaths and injuries had any type of relationship with the Forata dam. A dam that did not suffer from overflow, coronation or breakage that derived in an increase in the flow unexpectedly, » says the magistrate.

Ruiz Tobarra has also approved the appearance as witnesses of four mayors. This is Sergio Vilar (Monserrat), Andoni León (Pedralba), Amparo Pardo (Godellet) and Ismael Corell (Turís). When declaring as witnesses, they must tell the truth and respond to all parties: judge, prosecution, defenses and lawyers of private and popular accusations.

The instructor has also agreed to cite as experts the Professor of Physical Geography Alejandro Pérez and the Doctor in Geography, Meteorologist and Member of the Valencian Association of Meteorology (AVAMET), Rafael Armengot.