At least 11 people die in a fire in Andalusia
Some victims have died when they were trying to flee the flames with their vehicles
A serious forest fire in Los Gallardos, Almeria, has claimed the lives of at least eleven people. Some of the victims died while trying to flee the fire in their cars. In addition, there are also eight injured, four seriously who are hospitalized for burns and four with minor injuries.
It is the fire "with the most serious consequences to date", the 112 of Andalusia has reported. According to the Minister of Presidency, Health and Emergencies, Antonio Sanz, it is a "tragedy without precedent". Although twelve deaths were initially reported, the Andalusian authorities have lowered the figure to 11 and assure that the complexity of managing the emergency on the ground makes the data variable.
The first investigations confirm that the diversion through improvised routes in the midst of dense smoke has aggravated the consequences of the evacuation in the early hours of the fire. Sanz has specified two "scenarios": one with four people of British origin dead in a vehicle, and another with seven dead who apparently "were walking" and "looking for a way out" that "was not the planned one".
The minister has made an explicit call for calm and to avoid unilateral evacuation decisions, insisting to residents on the absolute necessity of not taking paths or escape routes that have not been coordinated and expressly authorized by the emergency services.
The first warnings from witnesses explain that the origin of the fire could be the fall of an electrical cable that would have ignited the vegetation. The strong wind would have spread the flames with extreme speed towards the surrounding forest mass.
The fire forces the evacuation of residents
"We currently have 122 people rehoused in both the Lubrín theater and the Garrucha sports center (...) almost all of them from Bédar," explained the counselor. For this large-scale fire, residents of Almocáizar, Fuente del Albarico, Los Pinos, La Serena, El Pinar de Bédar, and the tourist complex 'Miraflores' have also been evacuated.
Regarding the situation of the fire, it is complex: "It is a fire with a lot of ravines where machinery could not enter, where there are no access areas. The topography is very bad," assured Sanz, who specified that the "right flank is the most worrying," where the fire could end up in cultivated areas, and a "very active" left flank where work has not yet been possible.
The virulent fire affecting this area of Andalusia has forced the activation of the Military Emergencies Unit, which is working there with 150 personnel. To these soldiers, the regional deployment is added: about 150 workers and 16 groups of forest firefighters, in addition to operations and extinction technicians.