At least 12 people have died in a wildfire in southern Spain, the emergency services in the Andalusia region said early on Friday.
Some of the victims were found inside vehicles, the emergency services said in a post on X.
The fire broke out on Thursday afternoon in the municipality of Los Gallardos in the province of Almeria, about 300 kilometres north-east of Málaga, the regional government said.
Regional Interior Minister Antonio Sanz described the blaze as an “unprecedented tragedy,” saying it was “the most devastating fire to date” in Andalusia.
“The pain is immense. Andalusia is in mourning, and our hearts go out to AlmerÃa and all those affected,” he said.
Around 150 firefighters, five fire engines and other emergency personnel were battling the blaze in Los Gallardos, Sanz said, adding that residents of several communities had been evacuated as a precaution.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also expressed his “deep sorrow and desolation in the face of the terrible consequences of the fire” in a post on X.
Spain has been battling a series of wildfires in recent months. Since the start of the year, fires have burned more than 50,000 hectares of land, according to data from the European Commission’s European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS).
