Wildfire Near Bedar Kills 12 in Southern Spain, 23 Still Missing

The BBC reported that emergency services in south-eastern Spain are working to contain pockets of fire after a wildfire killed 12 people around the village of Bedar. Hundreds of firefighters and specialists have been deployed to the area, where Spanish authorities confirmed four of the dead were Britons and 23 people remain missing.

Local officials in the Los Gallardos area of Almería warned the death toll could rise.

The fire spread quickly on Thursday afternoon amid soaring temperatures, dry ground and powerful winds, with the cause attributed to a fallen power line though local electricity companies have denied this. Four people were found dead in a burnt-out car.

Antonio Sanz, Andalusia's health and emergencies minister, said they were believed to be of British origin because the car had a steering wheel on the right.

Lucinda Curtois, who arrived in Spain on Thursday with her partner and teenage children for a holiday, described escaping Bedar amid a mushroom cloud of smoke. She told the BBC she feared at least two other UK nationals had been killed after leaving their home on foot, and noted that officials said some victims had not taken a recommended evacuation route.

Sanz stated the rapid fire had been complex and the majority or even all victims may have been foreign nationals.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot said consular services were trying to contact Belgians with second homes in the area. The Andalusian branch of national weather agency AEMET said conditions were due to be rather more favourable on Saturday, with moderate wind and cooler air.