Spain asks for European help to fight raging wildfires fuelled by heat, wind
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said on Wednesday that Spain had requested two Canadair planes in anticipation of the weather forecast
In an interview with local media Cadena SER, he said the country is ready to seek more help from European allies, such as more firefighters, when needed.
Fires, fuelled by extreme temperatures and strong winds, have destroyed thousands of hectares in several regions of the country, as they have elsewhere in Europe, notably in France and Portugal.
About fifteen major fires are burning in northwestern Spain, notably in the Castile and León and Galicia regions.
Two people have been killed in the fires in Castile and León and seven people were hospitalised on Wednesday.
More than 8,000 people have been evacuated as a precautionary measure in the face of two fires in the provinces of León and Zamora.
According to the president of Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, thirty fires are being extinguished every day in the region.
Some 11,500 hectares have burned, particularly in the Ourense province where firefighters have been unable to contain a large fire in Chandrexa de Queixa.
(with newswires)
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