“THERE were moments where I thought ‘we could die here’.”

So said Karen Loftus who, along with husband Steve, escaped after getting caught up in the disastrous floods in Spain.

More than 200 people have been killed in the floods, with bodies still being pulled from the rubble after severe rainfall in the region.

Among those caught up in the incident were Steve and Karen, of Poole, who were on a motorway in Valencia as they returned from visiting their daughter in the Netherlands.

Traffic stopped and their car began filling with water, Mrs Loftus said, and they decided to flee the vehicle – with the help of a Moroccan lorry driver.

The 62-year-old told the BBC the couple wound down their windows initially, seeing water running on to the motorway from nearby fields.

The engine eventually cut out, she said, with the water rising to chest level as they climbed out.

They later saw a car crash into their vehicle – coming to rest on top of it.

“If we hadn’t have got out of the car when we did, literally two minutes later, we would not have been able to get out,” she said. “It was really, really scary.”

The pair, with other drivers, fled to the central reservation of the motorway which was higher than the rest of the road, she explained.

“Some Spanish guys were at the top, they dragged us up over the wall,” she said.

It was then Moroccan driver, Fadil, came to their rescue – allowing them into his cab and handing them towels and chocolate biscuits.

“He’s such a hero,” said Mrs Loftus. “I don’t know what we would have done without that man.”

Fadil drove through 5ft of water, which made the lights in the lorry go out, and eventually dropped them off at a hostel.

Since their escape, the couple have been able to take in the devastation caused by the flooding.

“It’s like a warzone,” said Mrs Loftus. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

They lost all their belongings as well as their car, but Mrs Loftus said she felt “lucky”.

“I do keep getting flashbacks and [getting] emotional but I just keep feeling grateful,” she added. “We were in the wrong place at the wrong time… but it wasn’t our time to go.”

But, she added: “We will be mourning the poor people who did not survive.”