Almeria wakes up to a glimmer of hope in Los Gallardos as aerial firefighting resources return to battle the blaze

Almeria fire

The Infoca Plan brought its aircraft back into service on Saturday morning following the favourable development of the forest fire that has already claimed twelve lives

Miguel Cárceles

Almería

This morning, the province of Almería is coming to terms with the situation with a mixture of caution and deep sorrow following the devastating forest fire ... which broke out on Thursday afternoon in the municipality of Los Gallardos .

The first light of this Saturday has brought with it a significantly more favourable situation than in previous days, allowing for the gradual and phased deployment of aerial resources to the fire-fighting efforts.

The Infoca Plan began the coordinated deployment of a total of eight aircraft over the affected area, a strategic advance party, while the rest of the fleet that operated at the height of the emergency – comprising up to 32 aircraft – remains on high alert and fully available at bases across the province, ready to join the firefighting effort should weather conditions deteriorate again.

The respite provided by the weather conditions during the night has been the key factor in the spread of the flames beginning to show signs of stabilising.

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  Furthermore, the emergency services coordinating on the ground have reported that the situation remains uncertain regarding a further 23 people who are currently listed as unaccounted for; as a result, ground searches are considered an absolute priority for the specialist rescue teams.

  The most heart-rending aspect of this catastrophe ravaging the province of Almería is centred on the forensic facilities, where staff are already working round the clock to put a name to the tragedy.

  The biology department of the Criminalistics Service of the Civil Guard’s General Directorate has taken charge of the investigations and is working intensively on the genetic analysis of the biological samples obtained at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Almería.

  The primary objective of the Guardia Civil’s specialists is to achieve the unequivocal identification of the twelve bodies that have been recovered to date at the epicentre of the disaster - a complex but essential task in order to provide answers to the affected families.