Forest fire in southern Spain kills 12 as another blaze prompts evacuations

MADRID: A forest fire that erupted on Thursday in Los Gallardos in Spain's southern Almeria province killed at least 12 people, as authorities escalated the emergency response to a fast-moving blaze in Andalusia.

Andalusia's emergency services said the dead were found in a hamlet in the neighbouring municipality of Bedar. Some of the victims were discovered inside vehicles that had been overtaken by the fire.

Antonio Sanz, Andalusia's acting minister for Health, the Presidency and Emergencies, described the incident as the region's deadliest wildfire so far. He called it "the fire with the greatest consequences to date" and "an unprecedented tragedy".

Authorities moved the region's wildfire response plan to the emergency phase while the fire continued to spread. Spain's Military Emergency Unit deployed 150 personnel to support firefighting operations, and heavy smoke and flames forced the closure of two major roads in the province.

In a separate incident on Thursday, another forest fire in the southern province of Malaga led to the precautionary evacuation of around 1,000 people. That blaze was still active, with nearly 180 personnel working to bring it under control.