![\"Wildfire](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/0024abf9-614.jpg\"\/)
\nRoads were closed and residents evacuated as the fire spread<\/p>\n
The death toll from a wildfire in Almeria in southern Spain rose to 12 after six more victims were found, authorities have said.<\/p>\n
“The number of people who died in the fire in Los Gallardos has risen to 12 after the confirmation of six more deaths,” the regional government of Andalusia said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Around 150 firefighters backed by five fire trucks battled the blaze, which broke out as temperatures neared 40C.<\/p>\n
The fire also injured at least six people, including a woman who suffered burns and another person with smoke inhalation who were taken to hospital.<\/p>\n
The four others were treated at the scene for minor burns and respiratory problems caused by heavy smoke.<\/p>\n
\nRoads were closed and residents evacuated as the fire spread<\/p>\n
Authorities raised the death toll to 12 “after the confirmation of six more deaths in the area of the fire”, the regional government said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz called the deaths “an unprecedented tragedy”, adding in the statement that “the pain is immense”.<\/p>\n
Witnesses told authorities the blaze may have started after a power line fell, igniting dry vegetation before spreading rapidly through surrounding woodland.<\/p>\n
Authorities have not confirmed the cause of the fire.<\/p>\n
Roads were closed and residents evacuated as the fire spread, with about 50 people housed in a cultural centre.<\/p>\n
Spain’s Military Emergency Unit UME, which is deployed in major emergencies, is due to join firefighting efforts in the coming hours.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez wrote on X that he was “deeply saddened and devastated by the terrible consequences of the wildfire”.<\/p>\n
He said in May that Spain would deploy its largest-ever summer wildfire response this year.<\/p>\n
The head of the regional government of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, called the blaze “a tragedy”.<\/p>\n
“Our hearts are heavy and we are devastated by grief,” he wrote on X.<\/p>\n
The wildfire comes as Spain suffers a heatwave, with scorching temperatures triggering orange weather warnings – the second highest level – across parts of Andalusia in recent days.<\/p>\n
Spain has experienced increasingly frequent and prolonged heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 40C, creating conditions for major wildfires.<\/p>\n
The country registered its third-warmest year on record in 2025, with 25 single day heat records set during the period, national weather agency AEMET said.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, hundreds of firefighters battled a wildfire near the popular Mediterranean tourist destination of Costa Brava and forced thousands to stay indoors.<\/p>\n
Strong winds whipped up the fire and prompted regional authorities to urge residents of 10 municipalities to remain at home, including at the popular Platja d’Aro beach resort.<\/p>\n
More than 971,000 acres burned in Spain in 2025, according to the European Forest Fire Information System, making it the country’s worst wildfire year in recent history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The death toll from a wildfire in Almeria in southern Spain rose to 12 after six more victims…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683646,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1397,90,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-683645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-science","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683645"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683645\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683646"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}