At least 12 people have died in a forest fire in the province of Almería, Spain . The devastating blaze broke out in the municipality of Los Gallardos. Government sources told local press that the death toll is provisional.
According to the Minister of the Presidency, Health and Emergencies of Andalusia, Antonio Sanz, the situation is an "unprecedented tragedy." Currently, approximately 150 people and four fire engines are working to extinguish the fire.
"At this moment we could be talking about 12 confirmed deaths, because there is still one to be confirmed, but unfortunately the toll could rise, because there are still 19 people still unlocated" within the perimeter of the fire, Andalusian governor Juanma Moreno said in radio statements to the Andalusian broadcaster Canal Sur.
At least seven people were injured and over a thousand people were evacuated . According to the Andalusian government, the victims were found dead inside cars trapped by flames along a secondary road near Bedar, where they had apparently been trying to escape the blaze.
Five of the seven injured were transferred to Torrecardenas University Hospital in Almeria with various degrees of burns. Two were rescued from an embankment where they had jumped to escape the fire , according to the 112 emergency service.
Due to the fire, the municipality of Bedar, as well as the villages of Almocaizarf, El Chocolate, and Los Collados in the province of Los Gallardos, have been completely evacuated . Over 150 firefighters are working on the extinguishing effort, along with numerous aircraft, which have been joined in the last few hours by soldiers from a battalion of the Army's Military Emergencies Unit (UME).
The fire, which broke out yesterday afternoon, may have been caused by a fallen power line that set fire to dry vegetation following the extreme heatwave.
The fire created a kind of death trap. The inability to use the main road to Bedar to allow the fire to advance forced rescue workers to transfer some of the evacuees to the town of Lubrin. About a hundred people were sheltered last night in the local municipal theater and industrial complex.
