Spanish wildfire victims burned in cars as roads turned into death traps

LOS GALLARDOS, Spain, July 10 (Reuters) – As flames approached their homes and smoke-filled air became stifling, panicked residents in rural Andalusian villages around Los Gallardos in southern Spain chose to flee, some at the cost of their lives.

As wildfires soared across the dry mountain slopes, residents were faced with the choice of taking their chances and leaving or sheltering in place.

Authorities advised some residents above Los Gallardos to evacuate and signaled a safe route; It was then thought safer for those living in the forested hamlet of Bedar to remain where the fire was so close.

“In situations like this, it is very important that we all follow the specified routes,” said Antonio Sanz, emergency manager in the Andalusia region. he said. “Unfortunately, in this case, it was decided to use a route other than the recommended one for evacuation. Looking for another way out of a dry river bed turned out to be a trap.”

As the flames approached, Antonio Rubio, a mechanic who lives in Bedar, said the smoke made sheltering in place impossible.

“We left the house at 5 o’clock yesterday (Thursday) afternoon. The fire did not reach my house, it stopped very shortly – but although the fire was some distance away we could already see a lot of smoke, so we had to leave,” he said. “We did this voluntarily.”

Twelve people have been confirmed dead in one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires, while 23 remain missing.

Sanz said that four people, whom he said were British because their car’s steering wheel was on the right, died in a vehicle. Seven others were found dead after abandoning their cars to try to escape on foot.

“Bedar village was unaffected by the flames in most cases, so the shelter-in-place order prevented a more serious situation,” he added.

CLOSED THE FIRE ROADS

Sonia, a Spanish woman living in Los Gallardos who declined to give her last name, said she took her relatives with her after authorities told them to evacuate at 7pm (17:00 GMT).

He said they were told to avoid the main road out of Bedar and take a back route further up into the mountains before heading back towards the coast.

“There are a lot of houses in the middle of the countryside, in the mountains, so people were taking whatever road they could,” he said.

“The road from Bédar to Los Gallardos was closed because the fire had crossed the road and was impassable.”

Concerned relatives from around the world posted messages on social media and local forums as authorities searched for their missing loved ones.

A woman in the United States posted a message to local emergency services stating that her brother was among a group of 10 people trying to escape through a ravine by a stream, sharing the coordinates and asking emergency services to check on him.

District President Juanma Moreno said the instinct to flee was understandable. “The first thing most people do when they see a fire is to run away, right? And of course, they think they know the routes, but if they don’t have the right information, those routes can of course turn into a death trap.”

Bedar ‌Mayor Ángel Collado said that most of those affected were foreign nationals.

“They are British, Belgian residents. I have even officiated some of their weddings. I feel sadness and profound pain,” he said in an emotional account to reporters at the emergency site.

(Reporting by Corina Pons and Aislinn Laing, writing by Aislinn Laing; Editing by Sharon Singleton)