Wildfires in Spain claim a third life as relentless heat assails Europe

Wildfires raging across Spain have killed a third person as intense heat continues to affect vast swathes of Europe, forcing overwhelmed governments to call in support from their neighbours.

- Ajit Niranjan

The European Commission said it was sending water-bombing planes to Spain, while countries across the Balkans were also receiving firefighting support.

A volunteer firefighter died after battling a blaze in Spain's Castile and Leon region, authorities said yesterday. It followed the death of a fellow volunteer in the same region on Tuesday. A man died on the outskirts of Madrid on Monday as he tried to save horses from a burning stable.

"Death strikes us again with the loss of a second volunteer who has lost their life in Leon," Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said yesterday. He thanked the "heroes" protecting people from fires and said: "The threat remains extreme."

In Patras, Greece's third largest city, firefighters pushed back a wildfire that had burned through the outskirts of the port and forced the evacuation of a children's hospital and a retirement home.

Local media reported that a 19-year-old man who had allegedly confessed to starting the blaze had been arrested. Others had also been arrested in connection to the fire.