Hundreds return home as deadly Spain wildfire nears control

GARRUCHA, Spain - A wildfire that has killed at least 12 people in southern Spain was close to being brought under control on July 12, allowing hundreds of evacuated residents to return home as firefighters worked to fully stabilise the blaze, officials said.

Regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz said late on July 11 that about 600 of the nearly 1,500 people evacuated from the fire zone in Almería province had been allowed to return after firefighters made significant progress containing the blaze.

“The attack carried out today and the stabilisation of much of the perimeter have made it possible to adopt these measures and continue moving, always with the utmost caution, toward a return to normality,” Sanz said in a statement issued by the regional government of Andalusia.

The improved outlook followed a day of better weather conditions with calmer winds and higher air humidity that allowed firefighters to mount a direct assault on the fire.

Justice Minister Felix Bolanos said on July 11 that crews had taken advantage of favourable wind and humidity conditions to move closer to bringing the wildfire under control.

The burned area remained at about 6,600ha after the fire made no further advances on July 11, he said.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is scheduled to visit the devastated area on July 13.

Burned-out vehicles still line some roads where people were trapped as the fast-moving fire swept through the area at speeds of up to 100m per minute.

The authorities have kept the death toll at 12 and cautioned that the number of missing people remains uncertain until autopsies and the identification of recovered bodies are completed.

Officials have said many of the victims could be foreign nationals.

The identification process has been slowed because collecting DNA samples from relatives has proved difficult, with family members traveling from other countries.

Despite the improving conditions, the Civil Guard police planned another search of the affected area on July 12 to ensure no victims remain unaccounted for.

“The Civil Guard has entered more than 250 homes to verify that no one was inside, and it will now carry out one final sweep of the area to make a complete check that no one else remains,” Virginia Barcones, secretary-general for Civil Protection, told Spain’s public broadcaster on July 12. AFP