‘Unprecedented Tragedy’: 12 Dead In Devastating Spain Wildfire
July 10 (Reuters) – 12 people died in a forest fire in Almeria, southern Spain, and 150 firefighters were working to extinguish the blaze, the Andalusian Emergency Agency said in a statement early on Friday.
Minister of the Presidency, Health and Emergencies, Antonio Sanz, called the fire “the most devastating fire to date in our region” and described the situation as “an unprecedented tragedy”.
Earlier, there were reports that six people died due to the forest fire.
European Press News via Getty Images
Juanma Moreno, leader of Spain’s southern Andalusia region, wrote in a post on
Los Gallardos is a municipality in the province of Almería, in the southern Andalusia region of Spain.
The blaze follows a wildfire that broke out of control in southern France earlier this week, prompting the evacuation of more than 10,000 people from two dozen small towns and villages near the Spanish border.
Early summer heat waves in Western Europe in May and June dried out large areas of land, making them particularly vulnerable to forest fires this year.
The World Meteorological Organization said Europe is warming at more than twice the global average, making long-term heat events increasingly likely.
