A wildfire in southern Spain has claimed at least 12 lives and burned thousands of hectares, as firefighters struggled to bring it under control.
The wildfire began near the small town of Los Gallardos, in the Almería province, on Thursday afternoon, quickly spreading amid windy conditions to the nearby town of Bédar.
The bodies of four victims were found in a car in the early hours of Friday. Authorities said the steering wheel on the right-hand side of the vehicle led them to believe they were British.
Bodies of another eight people were found, having apparently abandoned their vehicles as they attempted to escape the flames. One of them was believed to be Spanish and the nationality of the others was not confirmed.
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Another 23 people were still unaccounted for on Friday night, causing fears that the death toll would rise further.
Antonio Sanz, head of emergencies in the Andalucía government, said it had been “the fire with the worst consequences” in the region’s history.
“The pain is massive,” he said. “Andalucía is grieving and our hearts are with Almería and all those affected.”
The area affected, in the southeast of the country, is slightly inland from the coast and has hilly terrain covered with vegetation and forested areas. It is popular with foreign tourists.
[ Spanish wildfire victims burned in cars as roads turned into ‘death traps’Opens in new window ]
“It’s a very complicated fire because, apart from the terrain and the ravines – there are a lot of ravines – there are a lot of scattered homes,” Sanz said.
The authorities suggested that those who had died in the fire may not have followed the evacuation routes they were given as the blaze approached.
“Unfortunately, some people did not follow the requests made,” said Juanma Moreno, the president of the Andalucía regional government. “Not following the recommendations probably caused the sad tragedy which led to this number of deaths.”
“It may be that, in searching for an escape route at too late a stage – because there hadn’t been a prior decision on their part, eventually, the escape routes weren’t suitable and they found themselves in a dead end, a trap, or in some cases a path from which there was practically no way out,” said Sanz.
Hundreds of local people were evacuated safely and taken to nearby sports halls as firefighters continued to battle the blaze.
About 220 members of the military worked alongside firefighters, as 160 civil guards were deployed to help co-ordinate the response.
Investigators examined a broken electricity cable near Los Gallardos, which local authorities initially blamed for starting the fire. However, technicians said that electricity had not been running through it.
Although Spain is used to wildfires during the summer, this is the worst regarding human loss since 1984, when 20 people died in La Gomera in the Canary Islands.
In a message posted on social media, King Felipe and Queen Letizia said they were “deeply upset” by events in Almería. Prime minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his “enormous sadness and distress”.
The swearing-in of the new Andalusian government, led by Moreno, was postponed as his administration co-ordinated emergency efforts with the central government.
The fire came as Spain and other parts of western Europe have been experiencing a heatwave, their third in the last six weeks.
In France, large fires in the south have burned thousands of hectares this week, disrupting the Tour de France cycling race. However, the largest fire, in the eastern Pyrenees, near the Spanish border, had eased in intensity on Friday.
French sports minister Marina Ferracci said on Friday that 131 people had died countrywide from drowning since June 19th, when the heatwave sent temperatures soaring.
