At least 12 people have died in a wildfire in southern Spain, with early indications suggesting four of the victims are British, according to a local official.
A further 23 people are currently unaccounted for, regional leader of Andalusia Juanma Moreno said
Hundreds of firefighters, military and law enforcement personnel have been responding to the blaze which broke out near the town of Los Gallardos
Hundreds of emergency responders are working to extinguish the blaze around Los gallardos Almeria – officials say they’ve never had such a devastating fire
The bodies of the victims were found near the small village of Bédar, just outside Los Gallardos, while 23 others are still missing and hundreds of residents have been evacuated
The fire is “more or less” under control but “if the wind picks up again, things could get complicated”, the mayor of nearby town Antas tells Spanish media
Meanwhile, the UK foreign Office is in touch with the relevant authorities in Spain over the “concerning” reports of British casualties, Downing Street says
A sustained heatwave with temperatures of around 40C (104F) has caused wildfires across southern Europe this summer
Peter, on holidays near Los Gallardos, tells the BBC it was “surrel” as the sky became darker, with the “glow” of the fire in the distance.
People from Bédar and Alfaix, areas close to the Los Gallardos area where the fire broke out, have been evacuated to a sports hall in Garrucha.
A space has also been established there to help people find those missing
Riyaz Cheytan and his partner Lucinda Curtois fled Bédar last night, deciding to get out of the mountains towards the sea after hearing about an evacuation notice from neighbours.
“There is one main road that comes to the house – we turned the corner and all of a sudden the fire was there,” Riyaz says.
The flames were so bad they had to turn around and find another route away, he says.
Lucinda says “it was really frightening and unbelievably quick”, adding the fire “effectively leaped” in the wind.
“When driving away it was almost like there was a mushroom cloud of smoke, it was like a bomb had gone off,” she says.
BBC
