2 of French family die in cliff fall fleeing Spain fire
Source: Agencies |
July 24, 2012, Tuesday
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A VACATIONING French family of five fell or jumped off a seaside cliff in Spain during a desperate attempt to escape a raging wildfire, with the father and one of his children plummeting at least 20 meters to their deaths, authorities said yesterday.
Flames forced the family and about 150 other tourists out of their cars on Sunday night as most were returning home to France, and the group scrambled down hillsides toward the beach in the border town of Portbou to escape the blaze, said Deputy Mayor Elisabet Cortaba.
The family became separated from the rest of the group on their way down and ended up at the edge of a very steep cliff with only one way out as the fire fanned by heavy winds approached them, Cortaba said.
They couldn't climb back up because of the fire, so the mother tried to scale down the crumbly cliff-face, but lost her grip and fell, said Tony Buixeda, the town's port manager, who was at the scene in a boat. The family's teenage daughter told other rescuers she jumped, but Buixeda said he did not know whether the rest jumped or fell because he was then swimming toward the mother.
Some witnesses "said they threw themselves off, others said they fell," Buixeda said. "The only thing they could do was go to the water."
The 60-year-old father died instantly after landing on submerged rocks, and his 15-year-old daughter drowned, Cortaba said. The mother was in a critical condition with a back injury, and the son and other daughter did not suffer life-threatening injuries. All were fished from the sea by Portbou boaters.
Two other people were also killed by the weekend fires in northeastern Spain that have burned 90 square kilometers, including one man who had a heart attack dousing flames around his home. They were also French, said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.
Flames forced the family and about 150 other tourists out of their cars on Sunday night as most were returning home to France, and the group scrambled down hillsides toward the beach in the border town of Portbou to escape the blaze, said Deputy Mayor Elisabet Cortaba.
The family became separated from the rest of the group on their way down and ended up at the edge of a very steep cliff with only one way out as the fire fanned by heavy winds approached them, Cortaba said.
They couldn't climb back up because of the fire, so the mother tried to scale down the crumbly cliff-face, but lost her grip and fell, said Tony Buixeda, the town's port manager, who was at the scene in a boat. The family's teenage daughter told other rescuers she jumped, but Buixeda said he did not know whether the rest jumped or fell because he was then swimming toward the mother.
Some witnesses "said they threw themselves off, others said they fell," Buixeda said. "The only thing they could do was go to the water."
The 60-year-old father died instantly after landing on submerged rocks, and his 15-year-old daughter drowned, Cortaba said. The mother was in a critical condition with a back injury, and the son and other daughter did not suffer life-threatening injuries. All were fished from the sea by Portbou boaters.
Two other people were also killed by the weekend fires in northeastern Spain that have burned 90 square kilometers, including one man who had a heart attack dousing flames around his home. They were also French, said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero.
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