Two men have died in a forest fire Spanish authorities suspect was started deliberately, the local government of the Castilla y Leon region in central Spain said today.
The fire, which started around 11am yesterday, has raged through at least 300 hectares of a mountainous pine-forested region near the town of Avila and is still out of control.
One victim, a bulldozer driver, had been sent by Madrid authorities to help the fire-fighting effort. A spokeswoman from Avila's local government gave no further details on how he died.
The local government said a second man had also died.
The blaze has spread to around 150 km (90 miles) west of central Madrid.
Forest fires across Spain have killed at least eight people since the start of the summer, which has seen temperatures regularly above 30 degrees Celsius in much of the country.