Costa Blanca: Forest fires in Valencia continue to rage - 13 injured, thousands of evacuees
Created: 08/17/2022, 17:54
By: Anna Lorenz
Two fires in the Valencia region are causing problems for Spain.
The fires are persistent and not far from popular Costa Blanca beach resorts.
13 people have already been injured.
Valencia – months of drought, heat and dry air – in 2022 more forest fires broke out in Spain than ever since records began.
According to measurements by the European earth observation
system Copernicus
, a total area larger than that of Saarland fell victim to forest fires this year.
In the holiday region of Valencia, the flames of the second fire, which have been blazing since Saturday (August 13), have now continued to spread uncontrollably.
Forest fire in Spain: Valencia's "worst fire" in ten years is raging in Vall d'Ebo
As reported by the state television broadcaster
RTVE
, citing the fire department, the fire in the Vall d'Ebo area, about 60 kilometers north-east of Alicante, has now destroyed 11,000 hectares of forest.
According to media reports, the ash clouds are now also reaching the Mediterranean island of Mallorca, which is almost 300 kilometers away.
About 2,000 people have been evacuated by Tuesday (August 16), according to the prime minister of the Valencia regional government.
Since the fire raged less than 50 kilometers away from popular tourist resorts on the Costa Blanca, it can be assumed that security measures have also been taken there - official information is not yet available.
An aircraft is used to extinguish the fire in Valencia.
© picture alliance/dpa/EUROPA PRESS |
Robert Solsona
Forest fires in Valencia: Fire in Bejís - 13 people are injured in the train incident
In the Bejís area, where the fire is also burning, eleven people suffered burns
on Tuesday (16 August), three of them severely, according to the newspaper
La Vanguardia .
Two firefighters were also injured in the area.
The incident happened when a regional train had to stop its journey around 60 kilometers northwest of Valencia due to heavy smoke in order to return to the starting station.
Both
Europa Press
and
RTVE
report that some passengers jumped out of the carriages in a panic while the driver ran from one end of the train to the other.
The flames in the Bejís region have so far destroyed around 4,000 hectares of forest.