Four killed in Spanish floods

Torrential rain washed away a bridge at Masdenverge, eastern Spain

MADRID, Spain (Reuters) -- At least four people have died and three others are missing following heavy rains in Spain's northeastern Catalonia region, officials said.

Some 350 people have been evacuated from the southern Catalonian town of Tortosa after the country's biggest river, the Ebro, rose dramatically since the start of the rains on Sunday night.

"The Ebro is just a few centimetres away from flooding," said a spokesman for the regional government. "We can confirm four deaths so far and rescuers are looking for more bodies."

Officials believed the worst weather has passed.

"We're quite optimistic. It is still expected to rain but the storm should move south," said a spokeswoman for Catalan emergency services.

"As long as the river doesn't rise to seven metres, we should be okay," she said.

Further down Spain's eastern coast in Valencia and Murcia, scores of roads and railway lines were cut off and rescue workers continued searching for the bodies of a woman and a two-year-old boy, Spanish radio reported.

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