Spain: 11 die and 19 are missing in forest fire

Among the victims is a Spaniard and the rest appear to be made up of foreigners who ignored instructions to stay in their places. They tried instead to flee by car as the flames spread quickly through a wooded area on the outskirts of the town of Los Gallardos in Almería province, said Antonio Sanz, head of emergencies for the Andalusia region.

The region is a popular tourist destination and is home to many foreigners, especially French, British and Belgians.

Four people, who appeared to be British - because the car's steering wheel was on the right side - died inside a vehicle. Seven more were found dead after apparently abandoning their cars and trying to escape on foot along a route that was not part of the evacuation plan.

"The consequences were terrible. Everything seems to indicate that, in the case of those killed, the majority — or almost all of them — were foreign citizens," said Sanz.

The circumstances are similar to those that occurred in neighboring Portugal in June 2017, when a huge forest fire, during a heat wave, killed more than 60 people and injured dozens, with half of the victims burning to death in their cars as they tried to flee.

A series of heatwaves in early summer left parts of Spain parched and vulnerable to any sparks, triggering an early start to the wildfire season.

So far this year, around 57,000 hectares have been burned, which represents around half the annual average of the last two decades and 40% of the entire area burned in the European Union, according to the European Forest Fire Information System.

*(Additional reporting by Corina Pons, David Latona and Akanksha Khushi)

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