Husband's grief over floods tragedy

5:10pm Saturday 11th October 2008

A British man has spoken of his grief at the loss of his wife and one of his twin daughters who died after being swept away by floods in Spain.

Mark Cullen, 49, said his wife Lorraine, 47, and daughter Lauren, 14, lost their footing as they tried to cross a swollen river with fellow twin Samantha, 14 and the girls' Spanish friend Gemma, 14.

The pair were trying to cross the River Clariano to get to their home in L'Olleria, near Valencia, but were carried off by the current. Their bodies were retrieved on Friday morning.

Mr Cullen, from Brighton, said: "My wife went to pick up Samantha from the town centre. When they drove back the water was up high over the bridge. They got out of the car, all held hands and started to walk across the river.

"It was only up to their knees, but one of them slipped and the others came crashing down. It carried them across the edge.

"My daughter Sam is quite strong and managed to grab hold of a tree and climb up. She saw Gemma and grabbed her, but Lorraine and Lauren were gone."

Mr Cullen flew out to Valencia on Thursday with his sons Daniel, 22, and Darren, 19, to be with his surviving daughter as she was treated at a local hospital.

He said: "When I saw Sam, she was absolutely covered in bruises. Nothing is broken but her body's a mess, I've never seen anything like it. It's a blur, you don't expect to lose two members of your family in one hit."

Mr Cullen said he and Lorraine had just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary.

He said: "My priority is to see my wife and daughter and bring them back home. That's all I can do."