Gavin Grey: UK correspondent on rising death toll in Spain following worst flooding disaster in decades, more victims come forward with allegations against former Harrods owner

Death toll rises while rescue efforts continue in Spain as it mops up following its worst flooding disaster in decades. At least 158 people are now confirmed dead and dozens more missing after huge rains swept the eastern province of Valencia and beyond.

More than 400 alleged victims or witnesses have come forward to lawyers over allegations of sexual misconduct against former Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed. One lawyer representing the Justice for Harrods Survivors group described it as the worst case of corporate abuse of women the world has ever seen and it took place at the world’s most famous department store in London.

A purple tunic found in an ancient tomb in Greece is now thought to have belonged to Alexander the Great, experts say. The revered ceremonial garment – called 'mesoleuconsarapis' – was uncovered 47 years ago in one of three tombs at Vergina in northern Greece.  However, it was not found in the tomb of Alexander the Great himself, but rather his half-brother, Philip III of Macedon.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Devin Gray, UK correspondent with US Now, hey, Kevin, Hi there, Heather,
given how big is the search efforts still going on
in Spain.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
It's massive. A whole city Valencia, absolutely in some neighborhoods
destroyed by a mass flash flood. They had a year's
worth of rainfall in eight hours. It's led to one
hundred and f fifty eight deaths in Spain's worst flooding disaster,
and one hundred and fifty five of those recorded in

(00:29):
that city of Valencia, in the southeast of the country.
More than one two hundred workers now deployed in a
rescue mission. But that rescue mission is getting increasingly depressing
because you know, time has ticked on since Tuesday's floods
and it's feared that many, many dozens remain missing the

(00:50):
task of recovering bodies from the mud and wreckage of
this flash flood that swept cars down streets as rivers
burst their banks. I mean, the pictures are extra ordery
of the damage is obviously deeply distressing. One British Man
believed to have died among those. As I said, the
death toll store rising, and the storm still sitting over

(01:11):
Spain sweeping its way up into the northeastern region.

Speaker 1 (01:16):
As we Talkkevin, this al Fayed thing has become far
far bigger than any of us could have imagined when
it first blew up.

Speaker 2 (01:23):
Ryan, Yeah, very much so. And now we learn that
some four hundred alleged victims or witnesses have come forward.
So Mohammed al fa Ed was boss of world's famous
department store, Harold's in London, and during that time there
are all these allegations that have now come forward that
he was basically using his power to abuse people, and

(01:48):
that also took place at the football club he owned,
Fulham FC, the Ritz Hotel in Paris, and other places
that he owned and ran. Harold's new owners say they
are utterly appalled by these allegies that are investigating whether
any current staff are involved. And al Fayed, of course
himself died last year aged ninety four. But this has

(02:09):
been an extraordinary thing. One or two have come forward
and then there's been an absolute deluge with people joining
a lawyer group in order to try and get redressed.
Now from Harold's claiming that they didn't oversee things properly,
and indeed from the al Fayed estate, and we had
learned that Harold's had previously said that they were in

(02:31):
the process of settling more than two hundred and fifty
claims for compensation. So the idea that another one hundred
and fiftieth joined is obviously going to deeply worrying for them.
The survivors involved have come, yes, from the UK, but
also America, Australia, Canada, Europe and Asia. According to the lawyers.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Now, what makes us think that the purple tunic belonged
to Alexander the Great because it wasn't found in his tomb?

Speaker 2 (02:55):
Was it? No fascinating story? This? So, a purple found
some forty seven years ago in a tomb that's two thousand,
four hundred years ago, has now been declared by scientists
as belonging to Alexander the Great. Now he, of course,
at the age of thirty, actually managed to create one

(03:16):
of the biggest empires, known as the King of Macedonia,
and many say he was undefeated in battle and was
the greatest leader the world has ever seen. Now they
discovered this tunic in tombs that belonged to his family members,
and in the past it had always assumed that it
must belong to one of them. However, a series of chemical,
physical and microscopic analysis on the fabric suggests actually it

(03:40):
was Alexander the Great's fermus lilac or purple cloak with
a white white suicide to it. Now they've conducted all
this search. First of all, they were slightly surprised because
it's made of cotton, which was extremely expensive and imported
from Persia. But then these other tests suggest actually know
they leave it to be Alexander the greats that the

(04:01):
whereabouts of his tomb is still very much up for debate.

Speaker 1 (04:05):
Very interesting. Hey, thank you very much, Kevin, appreciate it.
This Kevin Gray, our UK, corresponding.

Speaker 2 (04:10):
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