Spanish research vessel joins search efforts after floods

A Spanish research vessel that investigates marine ecosystems has been deployed to search for people missing after catastrophic flooding.

The 24 crew members aboard the Ramon Margalef will use its sensors and submergible robot to map an offshore area of 36 square kilometres - the equivalent of more than 5,000 football fields - to see if they can locate vehicles that last week's floods swept into the Mediterranean Sea.

The hope is that a map of sunken vehicles could lead to the recovery of bodies.

 Nearly 100 people have been officially declared missing, and authorities admit it is likely there are more people unaccounted for in addition to the more than 200 declared dead.