At least 12 dead, 23 missing amid fast-moving wildfire in southern Spain
Image of the wildfire that broke out in the Los Gallardos area (Almeria) on 10 July 2026, in Los Gallardos, Almeria, Andalusia, Spain. (Photo By Francisco J. Olmo/Europa Press via Getty Images)
(LOS GALLARDOS, Spain) — At least 12 people have died and 23 others are unaccounted for as firefighters in Southern Spain battle a rapidly spreading wildfire, officials said.
Emergency services in Andalusia said the death toll rose overnight amid the devastating blaze.
Andalusian President Juanma Moreno earlier said in a post on X that eight people have also been injured, including four who are in serious condition.
In an interview Friday morning on Spanish radio, Moreno said four of those killed were British nationals who became trapped in a car while trying to escape the flames and added that all of the other victims identified so far are foreign nationals.
The wildfire, burning in the municipality of Los Gallardos in Spain’s southeastern Almeria province, continued to spread rapidly Friday, with Moreno warning that weather conditions remained unfavorable for firefighters.
“The consequences are devastating,” Moreno said in his post on X.
Emergency crews on Friday continued search-and-rescue operations as they worked to locate the people still reported missing.
The blaze is likely to rank among the deadliest wildfires in Spain’s recent history, though authorities cautioned that the full scale of the disaster is still emerging as rescue efforts continue and officials work to identify victims.
Earlier today, a regional government official said in an interview that the fire was likely caused by an electric poll which had fallen.
The regional minister for emergencies in Andalusia, Antonio Sanz Cabello, said on Friday that last night was “a truly tragic night” with “terrible consequences.”
He said fighting the fire has been made more complicated by the remote terrain and the lack of access for heavy machinery. Sixteen aircraft are being used to fight the wildfire.
He urged people to take maximum care and said teams are still fighting the wildfire in Los Gallardos “with all their strength.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
German police stand near a white van that suspect Abdul B. allegedly used in last night’s vehicle crash during the Christopher Street Day Berlin pride parade on July 26, 2026 in Berlin, Germany. (Omer Messinger/Getty Images)
(LONDON) — The man suspected of allegedly driving a vehicle into a crowd during Berlin’s LGBTQ+ celebrations on Saturday, killing one person and injuring several others, has been killed, police said.
“Around 6 p.m., the suspect in yesterday’s attack in the Großer Tiergarten was located in an allotment garden complex in Spandau,” according to a statement from Berlin police.
“According to current information, he reportedly ran toward our officers with a stabbing weapon, prompting our SEK Berlin unit to open fire,” the statement continued. “Despite immediate resuscitation efforts by the Berlin Fire Department, he died at the scene.”
Berlin police earlier Sunday released a photo of the man, whom they identified as Abdul B., using only an initial for his surname, as is common under German privacy law.
“Abdul B. is alleged to have injured several people with a moving vehicle in the Tiergarten area at approximately 10 p.m.,” according to a joint statement released by the Berlin Police and Public Prosecutor’s Office.
“Everything we are seeing here indicates that this was an Islamist terrorist attack,” German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said at a press conference Sunday.
Dobrindt also updated the number of injured from 17 to 29, “including several who sustained serious injuries.”
The suspect rammed into the crowd with a vehicle, Dobrindt said, after which “he then attacked other pedestrians with a bladed weapon, believed to have been a machete, seriously injuring them.”
Dobrindt confirmed earlier police reports that the suspect, whom he described as a “German citizen of Lebanese descent who was born in Germany,” had “an extensive criminal record, showed signs of radicalization, and was associated with the radical Islamist scene.”
“He was previously sentenced in Berlin to one year and ten months in prison. The sentence was commuted to parole, and prosecutors appealed the decision,” Dobrindt said. He did not provide details about why the suspect was sentenced to prison.
“The search for the suspect is currently the top priority,” according to Dobrindt.
Details about potential motives for the attack were not immediately released.
Hundreds of thousands of people had come to Berlin to celebrate Christopher Street Day, one of Europe’s largest LGBTQ+ celebrations, according to the city.
The two-day event was scheduled on Saturday to include a parade, which was to begin in Mitte, in central Berlin, wind its way south into Schöneberg, then turn back northward toward Brandenburg Gate.
The vehicle crashed into the crowd in Tiergarten Park, according to law enforcement, an area along a footpath within the park and near to the parade’s end.
“One or more people are believed to have subsequently fled the vehicle,” police initially said. “Furthermore, several people are reported to have been injured with stabbing weapons.”
Several of those who were injured had life-threatening injuries, the Berlin Police told ABC News.
The suspect was described by police as having a “slim build.” They said he was about 1.9 meters tall, or about 6 feet, 3 inches, with black hair. He was wearing a black hoodie and white pants, police said.
“If you encounter this person, under no circumstances should you approach them or have any direct contact with them,” police said. “They may be armed and dangerous! Immediately contact the police emergency number 110.”
The police on Saturday called off the rest of the celebrations for the night after the incident at the park.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday described the vehicle crash as a “heinous act,” adding that “people from all over the world were peacefully celebrating” during Christopher Street Day.
“They wanted us to treat each other with kindness and tolerance,” he said on social media. “This is an attack on our society.”
ABC News’ Rashid Haddou, Felix Franz, Jamie Dorrington and Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.
This photograph shows an explosion during drone and missile attacks in Kyiv on June 2, 2026, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. Russian missile and drone barrages rocked parts of Ukraine overnight, killing four and wounding dozens, officials said on June 2, the latest attacks in a war with no end in sight. (Photo by Eugene KOTENKO / AFP via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — At least 17 people were killed and more than 100 people injured in a large-scale overnight Russian missile and drone strike on Ukraine, officials said, with the capital Kyiv the main target of Moscow’s latest long-range barrage.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in a post to Telegram that the most significant damage was wrought in Kyiv, Dnipro and Kharkiv regions. At least six people were killed in Kyiv and 11 people — including a child — were killed in Dnipro, local Ukrainian officials said.
Ukraine’s air force said in a post to Telegram that Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones into the country, of which 40 missiles and 602 drones were intercepted or suppressed.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the attack constituted “a completely transparent statement from Russia: if Ukraine is not protected from ballistic and other missile strikes, these attacks will continue.”
“Europe needs its own anti-ballistic defense so that this war can finally end. And we urgently need help from the United States in supplying missiles for the Patriot systems. We count on the support of our partners and on effective responses to today’s attack,” the president wrote in a post to social media.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that among the buildings damaged by the “large-scale attack” were four medical facilities.
Ruslan Stefanchuk, the chairman of the Ukrainian parliament, said in a post to X that the most serious damage in Kyiv was reported in the Podilskyi district, where a Russian strike collapsed a nine-story residential building. “People may still be trapped under the rubble,” Stefanchuk wrote.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said in a post to X that Russia’s latest “horrific attack” showed that Russian President Vladimir Putin “is a war criminal and loser who has no cards except terror.”
“Moscow is losing on the battlefield. No number of missiles can change this,” Sybiha wrote. “What we can change is Russia’s ability to continue terror. I urge partners to act, not only condemn.”
The foreign minister called on Ukraine’s foreign backers to unlock more European funding for NATO’s PURL program through which Kyiv can obtain more American weapons and ammunition, including anti-missile defenses like the Patriot system.
Sybiha also urged partners to increase investment in Ukraine’s own long-range capabilities, “ramp up pressure on Russia through new sanctions” and advance Ukraine’s European Union membership negotiations.
“Peace efforts will only succeed when they are backed with real pressure on Moscow,” Sybiha said.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said in a post to Telegram that its forces “launched a massive strike with high-precision long-range air, land and sea-based weapons, including hypersonic aeroballistic missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles.”
The strike, it said, targeted “military-industrial,” fuel and transport facilities and military bases in the Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Poltava, Khmelnytskyi and Sumy regions. “The targets of the strike have been achieved, all designated objects have been hit,” the ministry claimed.
The Russian Defense Ministry also said it shot down at least 148 Ukrainian drones overnight into Tuesday morning.
Russia’s federal air transport agency, Rosaviatsiya, announced temporary flight restrictions at airports in Volgograd, Kaluga, Saratov, Krasnodar and Penza during the overnight Ukrainian attacks.
ABC News’ Joe Simonetti, Yulia Drozd and Patrick Reevell contributed to this report.
Beachgoers in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Georg Wendt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
(LONDON) — Countries across Europe were on Thursday in the middle of one of the most brutal heat waves within the last 50 years, with temperatures breaking June records in the United Kingdom and France.
Weather officials in the United Kingdom said temperatures on Wednesday rose in some areas to 35.7 degrees Celsius, or about 96.2 degrees Fahrenheit, topping a June 1976 record of 35.6 C.
The Met Office updated its Red Extreme Heat Warning, spreading the warning along most of the southern and western areas of the United Kingdom.
“This is exceptional heat for June with temperature records expected to be broken this week,” Met Office Chief Forecaster Matthew Lehnert said in a statement. “Red warnings are reserved for the most severe events and we’re expecting significant impacts from this heatwave, with health issues likely, even beyond those who are more vulnerable to the heat.”
The Met also set Amber Heat Warnings for Friday and Saturday.
Warnings were still under review and constantly being updated, with the Met Office predicting that Friday could be the peak of the heat wave here in the United Kingdom, with temperatures soaring up as high as 100.4 F.
In France the north, west, and half of the southern areas of the country were on Thursday under red heat warnings, under which residents were being told to stay “Absolutely vigilant.”
French authorities said on Thursday they expected that the heat to stay in the red for many hours ahead.
The country on Wednesday notched its highest-ever temperature, according to weather officials at Meteo-France, the national weather service. They said the country’s national heat index — a daily average including regions around the country — hit 30 C, or about 86 F.
“Another exceptional day is expected in terms of temperatures, with the peak of this historic heatwave anticipated,” Meteo-France said in a bulletin on Thursday.
The Louvre and the Eiffel Tower were closing early for a third day in a row.
To stay safe in the heat everyone is being encouraged to stay hydrated, avoid the sun during peak hours, around midday, and staying home to keep cool.
They have recommended keeping curtains, blinds and windows closed during the day and opening windows at night to keep your house as cool as possible.
