Victims of Spanish wildfires killed while trying to escape along river bed ‘trap’

By Billy Stockwell and Magdalena Vitores Moreno, CNN

(CNN) — At least 12 people have been killed in one of southern Spain’s worst-ever wildfires, local officials said Friday, as dozens remain missing and tragic stories emerge of victims’ attempts to flee the inferno.

Around 150 emergency workers were deployed to battle the forest fire near the town of Los Gallardos on the Costa de Almería, where several residents had been evacuated from their homes, a statement from the regional government of Andalusia said.

“The most devastating fire to date in our region,” said Antonio Sanz, the minister for health and emergencies in the region, which is popular among tourists.

Andalusia’s regional leader Juanma Moreno said in a news conference Friday that at least 23 people remain missing.

Temperature records have been smashed across Europe this summer as countries are hit by heat waves which are bringing extreme temperatures alarmingly early in the year. Firefighters are battling wildfires in Spain, Portugal and France.

Sanz said some victims attempted to escape the blaze via a dry river bed, which turned out to be a deadly “trap.” Four people died in a vehicle, while seven others were killed while trying to get away from the fire on foot, he said.

“Everything suggests that the victims were mostly, if not entirely, foreign nationals, though naturally this cannot be confirmed until their identities are officially established,” Sanz said.

The mayor of Los Gallardos, Francisco Reyes, said the situation was “terrifying because there is a lot of wind and the fire has spread very quickly.”

“We have had to evacuate residents from Almocáizar and residents from Terminar de Vedas, and now we are heading towards the campsite because, as you can see, the wind is coming from the west and this is going to reach the campsite, where we also have 400 or 500 people,” he told Reuters news agency on Thursday.

Some relatives of missing people took to social media to share their concerns as authorities search for those unaccounted for, and seek to identify deceased victims.

A woman based in the United States posted on X that her brother was missing after trying to escape the fire through a valley with a group of 10 people. Meanwhile, another woman said on Facebook she had been unable to make contact with her parents after they said they were evacuating on Thursday.

Wildfires are not unusual in Europe, but the climate crisis is driving hotter, drier weather, which is setting the stage for fiercer fire seasons.

The current death toll makes the blaze Spain’s deadliest wildfire since 2005, when ​11 firefighters were killed in the central province of Guadalajara after a fire was sparked by a barbecue, Reuters reported.

Last month, Spain set national records with temperatures on some days reaching 12.8 degrees Fahrenheit (7.1 Celsius) above average, according to the national weather service AEMET.

France and the UK also set record temperatures last month amid the unprecedented heat, with many French towns and cities facing temperatures above 104 degrees Fahrenheit (40 Celsius).

Spain’s meteorological office issued more high temperature warnings in recent days for parts of the Andalusia region. Video released by authorities shows firefighters battling large flames engulfing vegetation in the area.

Meanwhile, emergency services have been tackling blazes in neighboring France too, with thousands of hectares of land burned near the border with Spain, according to local authorities.

In Portugal, recent wildfires have caused plumes of smoke so large they could be seen from space, according to the European Union.

Europe is the world’s fastest-warming continent, with temperatures increasing more than twice as fast as the global average, according to the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his sadness over the recent deaths in the country’s south. “I want to convey my condolences to the families of those who died,” he said on X.

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CNN’s Laura Paddison, Duarte Mendonca, Todd Symons and Diego Mendoza contributed reporting.