At least 12 people, including four British nationals, are believed to have died in a wildfire in Spain's Almería province after becoming trapped on a dirt track while attempting to flee the blaze. The fire broke out late last Thursday near the Sierra de Los Filabres mountains.
Regional government officials indicated that 11 of the 12 confirmed fatalities were likely foreign nationals, with British and Belgian citizens expected among the dead. Harrowing photographs depict the charred remains of vehicles on a hillside near Bedar, where the tragic incident occurred. One vehicle, believed to have carried four British victims, was found with its chassis positioned in the opposite direction of the others, suggesting a desperate attempt to turn back. Adjacent to this vehicle were five other cars and a motorbike, abandoned on the same dirt track.
"Unfortunately the decision of some people to take evacuation routes that weren’t those indicated by the emergency services and take an alternative route became a mortal trap," said Antonio Sanz, acting Regional Minister for Health, the Presidency and Emergencies for Andalucía. He noted two specific scenarios where this occurred, including the vehicle with four occupants and another where seven people on foot died after abandoning their cars.
In a separate incident, a British couple was found alive early Friday morning with severe burns after falling down a ravine. They were rescued by police and taken to a hospital, later transferred to a specialist burns unit in Seville. One of the officers involved described hearing a faint sound that initially seemed like an echo, prompting a more thorough search.
The identification process for the victims has been challenging due to the severity of the burns. Autopsies were performed, and biological samples were sent to Madrid for analysis by the Civil Guard's Criminalistics Service. As of Sunday, seven missing persons' reports had been filed, though initially, 23 people were unaccounted for.
More than 500 firefighters continued to combat the blaze, which had forced the evacuation of over 1,400 people from their homes. The wildfire is one of the deadliest in Spain in recent years, occurring amid a severe heatwave across Europe with temperatures frequently exceeding 40 degrees Celsius. The cause of the fire remains unconfirmed, but a fallen power line has been suggested as a possible factor.