At least 12 people were killed and 23 missing after a wildfire tore through a Spanish village, with four victims who may have been British burned in their car, authorities said Friday.
The authorities said many of the victims were believed to be foreigners as the fire, which started on Thursday in an area of steep ravines, destroyed forests and swathes of scrubland in the Los Gallardos area of Andalusia.
The death toll from one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires rose by one to 12, said the head of the Andalusia regional government, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla.
He added that 23 people were missing, up from 19 previously.
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DNA testing would be needed to identify the victims as they are “badly burnt and unrecognisable”, he added.
Spain has been sweltering in extreme heat, creating tinderbox conditions favourable for the rapid spread of wildfires.
Scientists agree that climate change caused by humans burning fossil fuels is making extreme weather events such as heatwaves more likely and more intense.
Fuelled by gusts of around 50 kilometres (30 miles) per hour, the blaze moved at “an extraordinary pace”, advancing 15 kilometres in just two hours, Moreno said.
The authorities said residents of the whitewashed village of Bedar had been told to either take a recommended evacuation route, or stay in their homes given that the fire was so close.
The failure of some residents to follow these recommendations “may have led to the tragic loss of life in some cases”, Moreno said.
Located about 15 kilometres (nine miles) from Spain’s Mediterranean coast, Bedar is popular with those seeking a quieter alternative to the nearby beach resorts.
‘Extremely difficult’ to extinguish
Four of the victims were believed to be British nationals found burned to death inside a right-hand drive car, Moreno said.
Another seven people died while trying to escape on foot, Bedar mayor Angel Francisco Collado told reporters.
The 12th victim was a man who tried to flee by bicycle, according to Spanish media reports.
Officials said eight people had been injured, four seriously, and hundreds of residents had been evacuated.
Around 500 firefighters, backed by Spain’s Military Emergency Unit, battled to contain the flames which officials said have so far ravaged some 3,200 hectares of land.
Moreno said it could take days to bring the blaze under control.
“The rugged terrain, with its steep slopes, has made access extremely difficult,” he said.
AFP reporters saw firefighters battling to douse the flames sweeping across the parched countryside, sending plumes of white smoke into the air.
Witnesses said the fire may have been started by a power line that fell and set scrubland alight but there was no official confirmation.
Antonio Sanz, Andalusia’s minister for emergencies, described the fire as a “very complex, very fast-moving” outbreak in a region with many ravines where it is difficult to use heavy machines and with homes in forested areas.
‘Devastated’
The Andalusia regional government said emergency services were submerged by more than 150 calls from people reporting the fire and that flames could be seen on a main highway passing near the village.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X that he was “deeply saddened and devastated by the terrible consequences of the wildfire”.
He said in May that Spain would deploy its largest-ever summer wildfire response this year.
Scorching temperatures have triggered orange weather warnings — the second highest level — across parts of Andalusia in recent days.
Spain has suffered increasingly frequent and prolonged heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 40C, fuelling conditions for major wildfires.
Deadly wildfires devoured almost 400,000 hectares (one million acres) of land in Spain last year, the highest figure recorded for the country by the European Forest Fire Information System.
