MADRID, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of confirmed victims from the flash floods which affected the island of Mallorca late on the evening of Oct. 9 rose to 13 on Wednesday after the discovery of the body of a six-year-old boy named Artur, emergency services confirmed.
Rescue services had been searching for Artur for eight days after the car, in which he had been travelling with his mother and older sister, was swept away by torrential waters in eastern parts of the island
Artur's mother, 40-year-old Joana Literas was able to save his sister with the help of a German tourist, before their car was swept away.
The mother's boday was later found inside of the vehicle, while Artur remained missing, which led to a widespread search operation involving up to 400 people.
His backpack was uncovered by searches on Saturday, but it was not until this Wednesday that his body was finally discovered close to the town of Saint Llorenc, several kilometers from where his mother was found.
On Sunday members of the family released a statement, in which they had thanked the efforts of the rescue services, saying that "Despite all of the difficult moments that we are going through we must thank all of those who are continuing to tirelessly search for Artur."
They also said that although they didn't have hope Artur would be found alive, they wanted to find his body in order to have closure on the incident.
Before Artur, six Spaniards, three Germans, two Britons and a Dutch had been confirmed killed in one of the worst floods that hit Spain in recent decades.
