More than 300,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in towns and villages in France and Spain due to forest fires threatening Madrid and Bordeaux, as well as a new blaze that broke out in the Val d'Uixo region in eastern Spain. This is reported by Bloomberg, writes UNN.
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It is noted that the fire, which broke out near Valencia on Saturday, became "completely uncontrollable" by evening, said Spain's Minister of Science Diana Morant. More than 16,000 people were evacuated, and additional forces from Madrid were expected to arrive on Sunday.
Local firefighters posted a video on social media X on Saturday evening showing flames from the fire that started in Val d'Uixo, 45 kilometers north of Valencia, rising tens of meters into the sky.
The fires are reaching scales that sometimes exceed the extinguishing capabilities of any fire service in the world
According to local authorities, the number of evacuees in the Gironde region of France has risen to 220,000 people, including 55,000 residents of the suburbs of Bordeaux who were evacuated last night. The press service of the local administration reported that the fire spread rapidly at the beginning of the night due to dry vegetation and strong winds.
The A63 motorway, one of the main routes between Bordeaux and northern Spain, was closed on a 60-kilometer stretch. Train traffic south of the French city was also suspended indefinitely, said national railway operator SNCF.
At the same time, the fires that caused massive evacuations in Madrid and Avila moved more slowly on Sunday morning due to improved weather conditions. However, Spanish authorities said the situation is not yet under control. According to a representative of the regional government, Carlos Novillo, nearly 100,000 people were evacuated from this area.
On Saturday, firefighters found a deceased elderly man in a car in the city of Manises in the Valencia region while extinguishing a small fire. No human casualties have been reported so far from the large fires near Madrid and Valencia.
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