Firefighters battling a wildfire in Almería, southern Spain, have gained an advantage thanks to more favorable weather. The strong winds that fueled the blaze on Friday have subsided, authorities said.
The development overnight has been favorable and the weather conditions mean that we can face the day with better conditions than yesterday, says Antonio Sanz, head of local crisis management in Andalusia.
The search continues
The fire, described as one of Spain's deadliest, has so far destroyed around 6,600 hectares in the area.
The search for the missing has been ongoing throughout the night and day, but so far no further victims have been found. 23 people are still missing.
Around 1,500 people have been forced to leave their homes. Many have been accommodated in nearby hotels, RTVE reports.
87-year-old Briton Austin Crilly was sitting in front of the TV when he saw what he thought was a "huge black cloud."
Five minutes later there was a knock on the door. They said: “Take your money, take your cards – get out of here!” he tells AFP.
Drove through the flames
Jeffrey Kember was also watching TV when the flames suddenly approached his house in Los Pinos. He jumped into his car and drove through the inferno.
"I thought, 'I can't stop, I just have to keep going.' It was eerie, because suddenly I came out of the flames and everything was bright sunshine. It was surreal," he told the AP news agency.
Manoli Ramos, 72, was forced to leave her home in the village of Bédar. She describes the fire as hell.
"We were absolutely terrified. We could see the flames. It was terrible," she says.
Authorities suspect that the wildfire started when a power line broke, but this has not yet been confirmed.
