The body of a man has been found in a canal near the mouth of the Segura River, although it is too early to know if it is that of the 66-year-old Dutchman who has been missing since last Sunday from Dolores.

The body was found at 1240 hours on Tuesday afternoon next to the Canal de la Reina in the municipality of San Fulgencio and according to sources the description corresponds to the Dutch resident who was dragged by the water along a ditch in the municipality of Dolores.

The lifeless body was discovered by a Civil Protection volunteer who was riding a quad bike alongside the canal. He stopped when he thought he saw a hand at which point he pulled apart the reeds to find a body.

He then called in a team of divers and a Civil Guard helicopter.

Due to the geographical location where the body was found and the direction of the current, the same sources have indicated that it could be this missing person, although the authorities are waiting for family members to identify it.

It is the third death in the Valencian Community attributed to the storm, after the death of the 41-year-old resident of Orihuela found dead in a field close to the hamlet of La Matanza last Saturday and that of another man, 58, of Redován found dead on Friday in the area known as the Virgen del Remedio de Orihuela.