Spain wildfire kills 12, leaves 23 missing as rescuers battle flames
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed condolences to the victims’ families, saying the country mourned those who had lost their lives in the disaster.
Around 500 firefighters, backed by Spain’s Military Emergency Unit, battled to contain the flames and search for victims. Around 800 people were evacuated, including nearly 200 to temporary shelters.
MADRID: At least 12 people have been killed and 23 others remain missing after one of the deadliest wildfires to hit southern Spain in decades swept through the Andalusia region, authorities said Friday, as firefighters battled to contain the blaze amid scorching temperatures and strong winds.
The forest fire broke out near the town of Los Gallardos in the Costa de Almería area, forcing the evacuation of several communities and destroying more than 3,000 hectares (7,400 acres) of woodland, according to regional officials.
Around 150 firefighters and emergency personnel were deployed to combat the blaze, which spread rapidly through dry vegetation as Europe endures another summer of record-breaking heat.
“This is the most devastating fire our region has experienced,” Andalusia’s regional health and emergencies minister Antonio Sanz told reporters.
Sanz said four victims were found dead inside a vehicle, while seven others died after attempting to escape on foot through a dry riverbed that became a deadly trap as the flames advanced.
“Everything suggests the victims were mostly, if not entirely, foreign nationals, although this cannot be confirmed until the identification process is completed,” he said.
Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno said at least 23 people remained unaccounted for as search and rescue operations continued.
Los Gallardos mayor Francisco Reyes described the rapidly evolving situation as “terrifying,” saying strong winds had accelerated the spread of the fire.
“We have evacuated residents from nearby communities and are now moving people from a campsite where around 400 to 500 people are staying because the fire is approaching,” Reyes said.
Authorities said emergency crews continued searching for missing people while forensic teams worked to identify the victims.
Relatives of those feared missing appealed for information on social media, with several saying they had lost contact with family members after evacuation orders were issued.
Environmental experts said the wildfire had already consumed more than 3,000 hectares of forest and scrubland.
Fernando Ojeda, a biology professor at the University of Cádiz, said fires of this scale were highly unusual for Mediterranean ecosystems.
“There have been larger fires, but this is an enormous blaze. It is not normal for fires of this magnitude to occur in Mediterranean landscapes,” he said.
Residents described widespread devastation, with homes destroyed and large areas of woodland reduced to ash.
The wildfire is Spain’s deadliest since 2005, when 11 firefighters were killed battling a blaze in the central province of Guadalajara.
The disaster comes as Spain, Portugal and France struggle with multiple wildfires during an intense heatwave that has pushed temperatures well above seasonal averages.
Spain’s meteorological agency AEMET has issued fresh heat warnings for parts of Andalusia, where high temperatures and dry conditions continue to fuel fire risks.
Scientists say climate change is making heatwaves more frequent and intense, creating hotter and drier conditions that contribute to increasingly destructive wildfire seasons across southern Europe.
According to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, Europe is warming at more than twice the global average, making it the fastest-warming continent.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed condolences to the victims’ families, saying the country mourned those who had lost their lives in the disaster.
Firefighters remained on the front lines late Friday as authorities warned that strong winds and extreme heat continued to threaten containment efforts.