New Delhi, July 11 -- MADRID - Twelve people died and nineteen remained missing Thursday after wildfires tore through southern Spain's Almeria province in what regional officials described as the worst fire disaster the area has seen in decades. Flames that erupted Wednesday near the municipality of Los Gallardos spread rapidly toward the town of Bedar, driven by fierce summer winds and vegetation parched by weeks of drought.

Antonio Sanz, Andalusia's regional emergency chief, called it "the most devastating fire the region has experienced in recent memory, an unprecedented tragedy that has left families in ruins." More than 300 emergency personnel responded to the fires, including 150 soldiers from Spain's Military Emergency Unit. An ad...