British tourists are among hundreds evacuated as massive forest fire spreads on the Costa Del Sol after it was started by a French man trying to smoke out a bee hive
- Some 500 homes in Estepona on the Spanish Costa del Sol have been evacuated
- They include a luxury complex called Forest Hills which is popular with Britons
- A French man has been arrested after allegedly starting the fire on Monday
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British tourists were among hundreds forced to flee to safety in Spain after another huge forest fire, allegedly started by a French man trying to smoke out a bee hive.
Some 500 homes in Estepona in southern Spain have been evacuated, including a luxury complex called Forest Hills which is popular with Britons.
A fire-fighting team of more than 200 personnel are trying to bring the blaze under control but it has already devastated more than 200 acres of land.
The Costa del Sol blaze is separate to the Gran Canaria wildfire which has forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate.
A huge forest fire burns in Estepona in southern Spain – forcing hundreds of people including British tourists to evacuate their holiday homes
Firefighters are trying to bring the blaze under control but it has already devastated more than 200 acres of land. The blaze is watched by a Spanish police officer, right
A French citizen has been arrested for allegedly starting the Estepona fire on Monday morning.
The forest fire remains uncontrolled and can be seen from the centre of Estepona, a popular holiday resort in the province of Malaga in southern Spain.
Yesterday afternoon 42 scattered houses were evacuated as the fire raged, with evacuees – many of them described as foreign – put up in a sports centre by Estepona’s local authority.
One evacuee, Anastacia Chapman, said she had been evacuated and said families had ‘air mattresses and nice staff looking after us’.
Another woman, Melanie Brockway, said she was ‘spending the night on the beach’ after being evacuated.
Residents of more than 300 homes in the Forest Hills complex were also told to leave because the wind changed direction.
Five people have had to be treated for smoke poisoning, minor burns and bruises, although none of them have required hospital transfer.
One evacuee, Anastacia Chapman, said she had been evacuated and said families had ‘air mattresses and nice staff looking after us’
Some 500 homes in Estepona in southern Spain have been evacuated, including a luxury complex called Forest Hills (pictured) which is popular with Britons
The forest fire remains uncontrolled and can be seen from the centre of Estepona, a popular holiday resort in the province of Malaga in southern Spain
High winds and temperatures in the area are reportedly making the operation more difficult.
The French man has been arrested by the police unit attached to the Andalusian autonomous community and he is in police custody pending a court appearance.
Regional official Elías Bendodo said it is believed that the man has caused the fire on the land where he resided on a rental basis by committing a ‘negligence.’
‘This has happened when trying to burn a bee hive and it has got out of hand,’ he said.
The blaze on the mainland comes amid a raging wildfire on Gran Canaria, a Spanish holiday island off north-west Africa.
Around 10,000 people have evacuated on Gran Canaria and more than 1,000 firefighters and emergency workers have been deployed as well as around 15 water-dropping helicopters and planes.
However, local officials said today that the wildfire had abated as winds had dropped.