Two tourists found a man's body in a remote area of Santa Cruz, Tenerife, on Wednesday, as the Spanish Canary Islands were battered by Storm Therese, the region's worst storm in a decade. The discovery occurred along a track in El Draguillo, near Benijo, prompting an alert to emergency services.
Local police officers were first on the scene and confirmed the man had died. Firefighters from the Tenerife Emergency Consortium and National Police officers also attended. An investigation is underway to determine the circumstances of the death, and the man's identity has not been released.
Storm Therese brought intense rainfall and strong winds to the Canary Islands, with Tenerife placed on red alert on Tuesday evening. The storm caused major property damage, flooding homes and streets, and rivers burst their banks. Officials pumped water from submerged roads and motorways.
Pictures from Gran Canaria showed the storm battering mountainous terrain, with one home's facade almost completely destroyed. Weather stations recorded heavy rainfall, with 66 and 56.6 litres per square metre in some areas, and over 700 litres on the island's peaks.
