The death toll from the devastating Los Gallardos wildfire in Almeria has risen to 14 after a woman being treated for severe burns died in hospital.
The patient had been receiving specialist care at the Virgen del Rocio University Hospital in Sevilla after suffering burns to 70% of her body during the blaze, which tore through more than 5,200 hectares of countryside earlier this month.
The Junta de Andalucia said she had been admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit in a very serious condition and had since been treated by specialists in intensive care, plastic surgery and major burns.
The wildfire, which broke out on July 9 near Almocaizar in the municipality of Los Gallardos, triggered a major medical emergency, with 18 people requiring treatment.
Four of the injured were transferred to the hospital’s specialist burns unit. Following the woman’s death, three patients remain hospitalised under specialist care.
The blaze spread rapidly through parts of Bedar, Lubrin, Antas and Sorbas, causing extensive environmental damage, including within the protected Sierra Cabrera-Bedar Special Area of Conservation.
The Infoca firefighting service officially declared the fire extinguished at 9pm on July 24, bringing to an end 15 days of firefighting operations after the flames destroyed around 5,200 hectares of land.
The wildfire is one of the deadliest in modern Spanish history and claimed the lives of 14 people, including several foreign nationals, while leaving dozens more injured.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
