At least 12 people have died, and 23 others remain missing in one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires.

The blaze erupted in the southern region of Andalusia.

“Nearly all of the confirmed victims were foreigners, including from Belgium and Britain, according to Juanma Moreno, the president of the region of Andalusia,” The New York Times reports.

“Some of those who died had not followed orders to evacuate or to shelter in place once the flames got too close, he said at a news conference,” it added.

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Over 500 firefighters and civil protection workers battled the blaze, which broke out near the municipality of Los Gallardos, in Almería, on Thursday afternoon. The flames quickly coursed through the area, which is mountainous, rugged and popular with tourists.

“This is the first time we’ve faced a fire as devastating as this one,” Francisco Miguel Reyes, the mayor of Los Gallardos, told a Spanish radio station on Friday, adding, “It looks like a bomb went off” over the town.

Ángel Collado, the mayor of Bédar, a hamlet in the area of the fire, said at a news conference that officials had gone door to door urging residents to evacuate. One of the residents, who survived, refused to leave and advised a separate group of nine people to remain indoors as well, Mr. Collado said.

The group then fled along a route different than the evacuation path recommended by the authorities, and seven of them died, Mr. Collado added.

Mr. Moreno, the regional president, said that decision proved fatal. “Unfortunately, a number of residents did not heed these appeals,” he said. “Their failure to follow those recommendations is likely what led to the tragic loss of life.”

Four victims were found inside a right-hand drive vehicle and were believed to be British, Antonio Sanz, the health and emergencies minister in Andalusia, said on Friday. A further eight people were injured, he added.

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From a makeshift rescue centre in a funeral home in the neighbouring village of Lubin, Francisco, another resident of Bédar, said police had told him to stay in his house ​as the fire approached and had him keep ​the phone line open.

“They told me: ‘Francisco, don’t ⁠hang up, we need to stay in touch. When the fire has died down a bit, we’ll come and get you’,” he told La Voz de Almeria newspaper.

In the meantime, they tried to protect themselves as best they could.

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“We smashed the glass in a large window. We locked the ​front door and took refuge in the garage. We waited there for about two hours,” he said.

They were eventually evacuated, although they still ​do not know the condition ⁠of their home.

Sonia, a Spanish woman living in Los Gallardos who declined to give her last name, said that she had taken in relatives as the authorities had told them to evacuate at 7 p.m. (1700 GMT).

She said that they had been told to avoid the main route out of Bedar, driving out on a back route further up into the mountains before doubling back towards the ⁠coast.

“The road ​from Bédar to Los Gallardos was blocked, since the fire had crossed the road and it was impassable.”

As authorities ​searched for the missing, anxious relatives from around the world posted messages on social media and local forums.

One woman in the United States posted a message to the local emergency services saying her brother had been among a group of ​10 people who tried to escape by car, sharing the coordinates and asking emergency services to check for him.

 

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