Wildfire in Southern Spain Kills at Least 11, Leaves 19 Missing

A wildfire that ignited on Thursday afternoon near Los Gallardos in the Almería province of Andalusia has killed at least 11 people and left 19 missing, regional authorities said on Friday. The fire prompted evacuations in several neighborhoods and forced 150 firefighters, along with the military’s emergency unit, to combat the blaze.

Four of the victims were found inside a right-hand-drive vehicle and were believed to be British, health and emergencies minister Antonio Sanz said. The remaining seven appeared to have left their cars while attempting to escape the flames via a route that differed from the designated evacuation path.

"It has been a really tragic day with terrible consequences," Sanz said.

Initial reports indicated that a downed power line may have sparked the fire, which quickly spread to a wooded area. The Andalusian government later revised the death toll from an earlier report of 12 to 11, and confirmed eight injuries, four of them serious.

"There are at least 19 people missing," Andalusia President Juanma Moreno told a radio station.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced on social media that the military’s emergency unit had been mobilized to assist. The incident occurs as Europe experiences a series of heat waves that forecasters say increase the risk of wildfires, including a recent blaze in the Pyrenees that forced more than 10,000 evacuations in France.