Badly burned British couple rescued from ravine during Spain wildfires, reports say
The unnamed pair were found semi-conscious with 40% burns after being trapped by the blazes raging through Almeria province, local media reports.
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Figure caption,
Inside Bédar, the town at the centre of the Spanish wildfires
ByNick BeakeEurope correspondentReporting fromLos Gallardos and Gabriela Pomeroy
A British couple have been found down a ravine, badly burned and semi-conscious, after being caught up in the deadly wildfires that tore through Spain's Almeria province, local media is reporting.
The pair are thought to have been out hiking when they were caught up in the blaze, which spread rapidly through the province on Thursday. They were evacuated and taken to hospital where they are in intensive care.
The fire, which has now been contained, claimed the lives of 12 people, including four believed to be Britons, and burned through about 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of land, authorities said.
The identities of those killed have not yet been officially confirmed.
The couple were discovered by Civil Guard officers searching for survivors near the worst-hit village of Bédar in the early hours of Friday morning.
One of the rescuers, Sergeant Pedro Barre, said they heard distant cries for help.
"As you gain more experience, something inside you tells you, 'Look again, try one more time,'" he told Spain's TVE state broadcaster.
The rescue team followed the sound and climbed down a hillside. They found the couple in critical condition, semi-conscious and with severe burns covering 40% of their bodies.
"Being able to call out in the condition they were in was a titanic effort," said Rafael Zea, another of the officers involved in the operation.
"We'll never forget that look of surprise and emotion on their faces," Barre added.
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
With 12 people killed, the wildfires are already among the deadliest in Spanish history
On Sunday, Andalusia's regional government head, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, said that more favourable conditions had seen firefighters get the blaze under control, and that the overall alert had been downgraded.
About 600 of the nearly 1,500 people evacuated from the fire zone in Almería province were told they could return, regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz said.
Dozens gathered at a roundabout beneath the village of Bédar, hoping to be allowed back to their homes, many with no idea if their properties had survived.
Image caption,
The Los Gallardos area is home to many foreign residents
Among those waiting anxiously were Mike and Belinda Lithgow from Cornwall, who have a holiday property nearby.
Since the fires, they have slept in their camper van alongside their dog, Rocket.
The couple said they would be allowed to check on their home during a one hour window later on Sunday, and were "hopeful" that their house would still be standing, because the smoke was on the other side of the mountain as they were fleeing.
"It's impossible to know," said Mike. "You hope it will have gone down the ravine and round rather than up through the village."
Image source, Kostas Kallergis / BBC
Image caption,
Police blocked the roads to Bédar on Sunday after the fires
Also waiting nearby was Emma Mitchell and her husband.
Emma challenged an earlier statement by local authorities that some of those killed had not taken a designated evacuation route.
"We've lived here for three years full time and there has never been information that you should take this road if there is a fire, never."
And Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, the son of a Belgian man who died in the wildfire also disputed authorities' claims that he and other victims ignored official advice to shelter in place.
He told Reuters that he spoke to his father, 63-year-old businessman Stanislas Verdonckt, by phone on Thursday evening as the fire advanced on Bédar.
The emergency services gave them "no official warning" or evacuation commands, he said.
"There was no warning, they were not aware of a fire, and by the time they were - because they saw the fire themselves - it was already too late," he said.
His father and others attempted to take the main road - a designated evacuation route - but found it was not possible to access and took a different trail.
"It was out of their hands," he said, "it's not fair on them that they are [blamed] when it was not their choice to begin with."
Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt observes the landscape where his father died
Local officials have said previously said they did not issue an alert on Thursday night because it may have reached people beyond the affected area and could have complicated evacuations.
Authorities have also said police went door-to-door or telephoned residents with instructions on how to shelter or evacuate safely.
Bédar Mayor Angel Collado told reporters on Saturday that he had urged the group, including Stanislas Verdonckt, to shelter in place.
The Andalusian regional government and the Spanish Civil Guard police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Emma Mitchell also condemned the decision not to send a text message to all phones in the area.
"I think they should have done the mobile alert, as they do for earthquakes. I know they said that it was too technical and complex… but the reality is, out here in Bédar, there are very few officials."
She said the local policeman and firefighters had been magnificent in their individual efforts, visiting dozens of people as the fire took hold.
Image source, Reuters
A sustained heatwave with temperatures of around 40C (104F) has caused wildfires across southern Europe this summer, particularly in France, Portugal and Spain.
On Friday, Los Gallardos mayor Francisco Miguel Reyes told Spanish radio station Cadena SER said "it feels like a bomb has fallen" on the area.
"This is the first time we've faced a fire as devastating as this."
Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
An Andalusia Wildfire Service helicopter damping down embers on Saturday
This is already among the deadliest wildfires in Spanish history.
In 1984, 20 people died in a fire on the Canary Island of La Gomera, while in 1979, 21 people, including nine children, died in a forest fire near Lloret de Mar in north-eastern Spain.
Climate change is driving up temperatures around the world, and Europe is the fastest warming continent, heating up twice as fast as the global average, according to the Copernicus climate service.
This is causing increased summer heatwaves, greater pressure on Europe's water supply, and more intense wildfires.
Additional reporting by Kostas Kallergis
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