At least 12 dead in Spanish wildfires
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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This is the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service.
Hello, I'm Ankur Desai and at 15 Hours GMT on Friday the 10th of July, these are our main stories. Wildfires in Spain kill at least 12 people as a heatwave continues across much of Europe. One of Europe's biggest airlines, Ryanair, confirms that a passenger on one of its flights needed medical attention after he was partially sucked out of a window. And Japan's lower house of parliament passes a bill aimed at averting a succession crisis in the imperial family. Also in this podcast, how high-powered sound waves can help save identical twins affected by a rare pregnancy condition. And back in Britain for the first time in nearly a thousand years. I did well up a little bit, seeing it taken off the lorry, so I imagine I'll probably be in floods of tears when I actually see it.
The Bay of Tapestry arrives in London for an exhibition at the British Museum. At least 12 people have died in a wildfire in southern Spain, where fire crews are working to bring one of the country's deadliest blazes under control. The authorities have said most of the victims appear to be foreign tourists.
How many people were killed and where did the deadly Almeria wildfire occur?
The fire spread rapidly in a wooded area around the town of Los Galados in the province of Almería. Its mayor, Francisco Reyes, said the authorities were working hard to get people in areas still at risk to safety.
The fire started and has spread very quickly. We have had to evacuate residents from Al Mulkaisar and residents from Beda. And now we are heading towards the campsite because the wind is blowing from the west and it's going to reach the campsite where we also have 400 to 500 people. We are very concerned because houses are burning.
Our correspondent Guy Hedgcoe gave us this update.
As we heard there, firefighters are struggling to deal with this fire in what are very hot and dry conditions and also with high winds as well, which make it extremely difficult. But there are concerns that the death toll could increase further, potentially quite substantially further, because there are still 19 people unaccounted for, we're told, by the authorities. Of those who've been confirmed to have died in the fire, four are believed to be British, people who were travelling in a British car and seem to have been trapped by the flames last night.
What evidence do authorities have about the cause and rapid spread of the Spanish wildfire?
There were another seven who died when they were trying to escape the flames on foot. So there are concerns that the death toll might increase further. But several hundred people have been evacuated, taken to local sports halls. And the firefighters are battling the flames alongside members of the military as well.
Do we know much about the cause of this? I know there's a lot of consequences regarding the heat waves which are blazing across Europe at the moment.
Well, yes. I mean, of course, the very hot, dry conditions that we've been seeing across southern Europe, particularly across Spain over the last few days, will have contributed to this. And there has been a heat wave over the last few days. We're told by eyewitnesses and the authorities who believe that the cause of this may have been a power cable that fell near a road and then that sparked a fire next to a forested area. And then with the high winds and the dry conditions, it just spread extremely quickly. That was yesterday afternoon. So that's the theory at the moment as to the cause of the fire.
And what's the reaction been as well? We heard just briefly there from the mayor. Anybody else?
Who were the victims and how are Spanish officials responding to the blaze?
We've heard from officials. We've heard from Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the king and queen of Spain who they've all expressed condolences and their sadness at this tragedy. I think across Spain there is shock because Spain is very used to wildfires at this time of year. I mean, last year we saw a record breaking year in terms of wildfires. the amount of land that was burned. But what people are not used to seeing here in the summer is people dying because of fires. That's relatively unusual, certainly in these kinds of numbers, you know, 11 people dead.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–2:09
2
How many people were killed and where did the deadly Almeria wildfire occur?
2:09–3:26
3
What evidence do authorities have about the cause and rapid spread of the Spanish wildfire?
3:26–4:37
4
Who were the victims and how are Spanish officials responding to the blaze?
4:37–9:23
5
What is the humanitarian situation and aftermath of the Venezuela earthquakes?
9:23–14:43
6
What happened when a Ryanair passenger was partially sucked out of a plane window?
14:43–19:36
7
Why has the 900‑year‑old Bayeux Tapestry been loaned to the British Museum now?
19:36–23:15
8
What changes is Japan proposing to address its imperial succession and who could be affected?
23:15–31:44
Speakers
10 identified
Ankur Desai 16 min
Celestine Karony (reporter) - BBC Sport Africa 3 min
Guy Hedgcoe 3 min
Kurumi Mori 2 min
Lord Peter Ricketts 2 min
Francisco Reyes (mayor) / on-scene Spanish official 1 min
Professor Christophe Lys 1 min
Didier Reikner 1 min
Anthony Fiore (organiser) / Kennedy Park organiser
Todd Pomelo (lawyer)
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