Brits believed to be among the 11 fatalities in the Almeria province fire

Almeria fire

According to information from the Andalusian regional government's spokesperson for health and emergencies, Antonio Sanz, “everything seems to indicate that they are of British origin, not least because the car’s steering wheel was on the opposite side”

Miguel Cárceles

Almería

The eleven fatalities in the fire in Los Gallardos in Almeria province are believed to be British, according to Antonio Sanz, the Andalusian regional ... government's spokesperson for health and emergencies.

Sanz has said that “everything seems to indicate that they are of British origin, not least because the car’s steering wheel was on the opposite side”. The authorities have established that a lack of familiarity with Andalucía’s intricate network of rural roads, combined with the language barrier, may have been a key factor in the confusion that led these citizens to disregard the direct orders to stay at home.

The bodies of 11 people were found on the outskirts of Bedar, where, according to the emergency services, the public authorities had strictly ordered the local population to remain in their homes, as it was impossible to guarantee a safe evacuation by road due to the proximity and speed of the fire.

However, it is believed that a group of residents, in desperation, chose to flee in their private vehicles, using alternative escape routes that had not been authorised by the security forces monitoring the rural access roads in the area. This decision, driven by understandable panic at the imminent advance of smoke and flames, ultimately turned into a tragedy.

A veritable trap

Preliminary investigations by the Guardia Civil and the forest fire service suggest that the group of victims became completely engulfed by the fire as they entered the riverbed, which acted as a veritable trap for the flames and the extreme heat.

Sanz said, "The decision to take a different route - one that was not the evacuation route - and the decision to seek their own way out via a ravine, was in fact a veritable trap chosen by the people who ultimately lost their lives”.

The bodies were found at two separate locations very close to one another; the first of these was a burnt-out vehicle, inside which the bodies of four people were found, while the other seven victims were found in the surrounding area, having presumably abandoned their cars in a desperate attempt to gain higher ground by climbing the slopes of the ravine.

Although the official forensic identification process is set to continue for the next few hours due to the condition in which the remains were recovered, all the evidence suggests that virtually all of the deceased are foreign residents of European origin who lived in the numerous farmhouses scattered throughout the area.

Severe burns

Apart from the tragic deaths, the focus of medical care is now on the province’s main hospitals, where eight people with injuries of varying severity remain in hospital. Of this group of patients, four are in a critically serious condition with severe burns covering a large proportion of their bodies, which has necessitated the activation of specialised air evacuation protocols.

These critically ill patients were initially stabilised in the A&E department at Torrecárdenas University Hospital in Almeria city, but Sanz has indicated that “they will most likely end up being transferred to the Virgen del Rocío Hospital by helicopter” to be treated at the regional burns unit in Seville, while the other four injured people, classified as having less serious injuries, remain under observation in hospitals across Almeria province.

Provisional measurements from the Infoca Plan estimate that the provisional perimeter now covers a total of approximately 3,150 hectares of forest and scrubland that have been completely burnt by the fire. The terrain in Los Gallardos and its neighbouring municipalities is making it extremely difficult for ground crews to carry out direct attack manoeuvres due to the constant presence of steep slopes, ravines and deep gullies.

Sanz has said that the emergency services are facing “a very complex, very fast-spreading fire in an area with a great many scattered settlements and a great many homes within woodland".

The deployment of technical and human resources to try to stabilise the various active fires is one of the largest in recent years in Almeria province, coordinating more than 464 ground personnel equipped with 124 firefighting and logistics vehicles.

The Infoca Plan resources combating the fire on the ground include 150 forest firefighters organised into 21 firefighting teams, supported by operations technicians, environmental officers and state-of-the-art fire engines. Furthermore, given the scale of the disaster and the loss of human life, a section of the military emergency unit has joined the operation, comprising 64 military personnel equipped with twelve heavy fire engines and two support vehicles, working alongside firefighters from the local council fire stations across the province.

Difficult terrain

Firefighters are monitoring the behaviour of the fire’s right flank with particular concern, as it continues to burn erratically and violently, which could lead to further spread. However, the fire’s leading edge is expected to eventually lose momentum as it encounters areas of traditional farmland.

On the left flank, the terrain is so inaccessible that heavy machinery and foot patrols have been unable to gain access; as a result, the fire is spreading rapidly under its own momentum towards the motorway, a circumstance which technicians believe could be advantageous, as the tarmac acts as a definitive natural firebreak.

Air support is considered crucial in an attempt to consolidate these lines, with plans for the phased deployment of more than a dozen water-carrying aircraft and helicopters, which will operate continuously during the middle of the day to cool the hotspots.

So far 122 people have had to be evacuated from their homes in the town of Beda. Those affected are currently being temporarily rehoused at the municipal theatre in Lubrín, which is accommodating 52 residents and at the sports centre in the town of Garrucha, where a further 70 people have been accommodated and are receiving basic assistance from the Red Cross and the civil protection services.

Sanz appeared early on Friday 10 July to provide an update on the situation, which he described outright as catastrophic. “The whole of last night and yesterday was a truly tragic day with terrible consequences; unfortunately, we have had to report the news we never wanted to give,” he said.

He went on to say "Today, the hearts of all Andalusians are in mourning” in the face of an emergency that is still ongoing and which has all levels of the public administration on high alert. Sanz concluded his address with an appeal to the people of Almeria to exercise civic discipline, avoid non-essential travel and strictly follow the guidance provided on official channels: “I would like to thank all residents for their cooperation and ask them to heed all advice; there are no alternative approaches – you cannot act on your own initiative in situations of this kind.”