The China Mail - 'Ring the bells': residents recall escape from deadly Spanish wildfire

"We rang the bells many times so people would know," the 72-year-old Bedar town councillor told AFP in the nearby town of Los Gallardos, where she has sought refuge since the blaze broke out on Thursday.

Twelve people died after getting trapped in vehicles and as they tried to flee on foot -- most of them foreigners, according to officials.

The blaze has torn through over 6,000 hectares of land and devastated an area that had become a peaceful refuge for foreign residents, particularly Britons who came to retire or spend holidays among the green hills near Spain's Mediterranean coast.

Many lived in isolated homes outside the village, seeking privacy and tranquillity but potentially making it more difficult to receive warnings or escape as the flames spread.

"Foreigners live scattered outside Bedar," Ramos said. "They have beautiful homes and their belongings. They like living a little away from the centre."

The authorities suspect the wildfire began when a power line broke as Spain sweltered in extreme heat, creating tinderbox conditions.

- 'Everyone was afraid' -

For Hassan Oulghazzi, the fire first appeared as a dark cloud hanging over his home.

The 52-year-old Moroccan resident, who has lived in Bedar for 16 years, never saw the flames but watched as thick black smoke began to cover the area before police officers pounded on his door.

"How could you not be afraid?" he said. "When someone knocks on your door and tells you: 'Get up, come on, leave here. This is real, you have to go.'"

Oulghazzi fled with his wife and daughter without being able to take their belongings. He later went to a municipal sports hall in the coastal town of Garrucha, where evacuees were receiving help from the Red Cross.

But he said his fear was nothing compared with the suffering of those who died.

"Everyone was afraid, but I am really touched by the dead and those who were burned. I really am," he said. "There are some people I know."

Officials said some of those who died had not followed orders to evacuate or to shelter in place once the flames got too close.

- Like a movie -

Austin Crilly, an 87-year-old Briton who was evacuated from the affected area, said he has lived through plenty and has learned to accept whatever comes.

"I'm old school. What happens, happens," he said.

But Thursday was different.

He said he was watching television when he "saw a huge black cloud -- well I thought it was a cloud".

Shortly after came the warning from police: "'Take your money, take your cards and get out'," he said.

Crilly has since been living at the sports hall, waiting for news about the fire and when he could return home.

Nearby, British couple Martin and Elizabeth Smith were leaving the hall with their belongings.

The couple, from Dorset, had been staying at a campsite in the area.

Martin, 63, had to return to Britain, while Elizabeth, 65, hoped to finish her holiday.

"It wasn't good. Not good at all. I'd never seen anything like it. You see things like that in films, but never in real life," said Martin.

Despite the trauma, he said the fire had not changed his affection for the country.

"It hasn't put us off coming to Spain," he said.

R.Yeung--ThChM