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Wildfire kills one, evacuates thousands in southern Spain

01 September 2012 04:40 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. One person died, and two others were injured as a wildfire fanned by strong winds raged the Spanish Costa del Sol, local authorities said on Friday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

The charred body of an elderly man was found in Ojen, north of Marbella, and a man and a woman in their fifties were taken to the city’s Costa del Sol hospital after suffering serious burns, the regional government of Andalusia said.

Over 5,000 people were forced to evacuate from their homes in the towns of Ojen, Mijas, Alhurin de la Torres, Coin and Marbella.

A total of 800 firefighters, aided by 17 fire-fighting planes, 5 transport aircraft and nine helicopters, have joined the fight against the fire which so far has not been brought under control.

The fire started outside the mountainside town of Coin, northeast of Marbella on Thursday, and raced westward through the hilly countryside.

According to Javier Carnero, a spokesman for Malaga environment authorities, the fire was not spreading as quickly as other recent wildfires in Spain.

However, the fact that much of the region raged by the fire had been developed for housing estates and golf courses means more people had to be evacuated.

Andalusian emergency services have received over 2,000 emergency calls, while the majority of the people who had to be evacuated had been offered temporary accommodation in sport centers in Marbella and Mijas.