Spain wildfire claims 12 lives; Prime Minister to visit site

A devastating wildfire near Almeria in Andalusia, Spain, has resulted in 12 fatalities since Thursday, though Saturday brought a more favorable turn after two days of intense struggle for local residents. The blaze forced the evacuation of around 1,500 foreign residents, many of them British.

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Today, we can already look at the situation with optimism and with the confidence that, if everything goes as it is happening and if the night also plays in our favor (...) for the first time, we could begin to consider a future stabilization of the sinistre.

Bédar, the epicenter of the fire, resembled a ghost town on Saturday, with scorched vegetation, blackened walls, and empty streets. However, firefighters began to see a possibility of containing the disaster. "Today, we can already look at the situation with optimism and with the confidence that, if everything goes as it is happening and if the night also plays in our favor (...) for the first time, we could begin to consider a future stabilization" of the fire, said Antonio Sanz, regional head of Andalusia's rescue services, on Canal Sur radio.

Several hundred firefighters and military personnel continue to battle the blaze, which has burned 6,600 hectares around Los Gallardos. They are supported by aerial resources. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is scheduled to visit the site on Monday. The area, characterized by ravines, ditches, and scattered houses on hillsides, facilitated the fire's rapid spread and complicated evacuation efforts. Early in the fire, the speed of its progression was estimated at 100 meters per minute.

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We were very, very scared. We saw the flames. It was terrible. Very scared. And we still feel it in our bodies, we still feel it.

"We were very, very scared. We saw the flames. It was terrible. Very scared. And we still feel it in our bodies, we still feel it," said Manoli Ramos, 72, a municipal councilor from Bédar, where the victims were found. She described the current situation as "horrible. It was hell," contrasting it with a large fire in 2012 that was less severe. The 12 victims were trapped in their vehicles or caught by the flames while attempting to flee, according to authorities who repeatedly stressed the importance of following emergency service instructions. The victims were of various nationalities.

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It was horrible. It was hell.