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Wildfire kills in Almería
A fast-moving wildfire in southern Spain killed at least 12 people and left 23 others missing, with the deceased located in the southeastern village of Bedar, according to Spain's Civil Protection.
“At least 12 people have died and 23 others are unaccounted for”
The blaze burned in the municipality of Los Gallardos in Spain's southeastern Almeria province, and Andalusian regional leader Juanma Moreno said in a Friday post on X that at least eight people had been injured, including four in serious condition.
BBC reported that Antonio Sanz, Andalusia's health and emergencies minister, said the fire had burned across 6,600 hectares (16,300 acres) of land, and that the cause was put down to a fallen power line.
In the Los Gallardos area, the BBC said emergency services were deployed around the village of Bedar where 12 people had been killed, including four Britons, while another 23 people were still missing.
The BBC also quoted Lucinda Curtois describing the smoke as “It was almost like there was a mushroom cloud of smoke, it was like a bomb had gone off,” as she recounted her escape from Bedar.
Evacuation route and blame
Spanish officials warned that the number of dead could rise, with fears that more Britons were among those killed, as the BBC said local officials in the Los Gallardos area of Almería had warned the toll could increase.
The BBC reported that Antonio Sanz said previously the four people found dead in a burnt-out car were believed to be “of British origin” and that the car had a steering wheel on the right.
The BBC also said officials in Bedar warned that some of those who had died had not taken a recommended evacuation route, and it was “not clear how well that guidance was conveyed.”
In parallel, the Guardian said the victims died while trying to escape the flames near the village of Bédar in the municipality of Los Gallardos, and quoted Antonio Sanz saying, “Unfortunately the decision to look for another way out through a ravine was a real trap.”
The Guardian added that the fire had not ultimately reached Bédar, and that four people who died in one vehicle were thought to be British because the car was right-hand drive.
Heat, scale, and next steps
The BBC said a sustained heatwave with temperatures of around 40C (104F) caused wildfires across Southern Europe, and described the Los Gallardos fire spreading quickly on Thursday afternoon.
“temperatures of around 40C (104F)”
It also reported that the cause had been put down to a fallen power line, but that local electricity companies denied this, while the BBC said weather conditions had improved overnight to allow a direct attack on the fire.
ABC News said 1,448 people were evacuated from 11 locations as a preventative measure, and that emergency crews were continuing search-and-rescue operations to locate people still reported missing.
The BBC said Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot stated consular services were trying to contact “Belgians with whom they have not been able to get in touch,” as officials urged people trying to trace missing family members to go to the Guardia Civil station in La Garrucha.
As the scale of the disaster emerged, the BBC warned that the rapid fire had been complex and that the majority or even all of the victims may have been foreign nationals, while the identities of the deceased were not yet revealed.