Man runs through field of flames to flee ferocious wildfire in Spain

A man is being treated for serious burns after he dramatically escaped a ferocious wildfire that saw him engulfed in a field of flames.

Angel Martin Arjona was digging a trench in an attempt to stop the Locasio wildfire from reaching the village of Tabara in the Zamora region of northwest Spain.

But – while driving the digger in the field – it appears that he got lost after his view of a potential escape route was obstructed by the huge blaze surrounding him, as shown by terrifying footage shared online.

For a moment, he and the vehicle disappear in the blaze, but then the clip shows Mr Arjona, the owner of a construction warehouse, running out of the fire, briefly catching his breath, and then continuing to run for his life.

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He stumbles to the floor, but quickly gets back up to continue running while patting down the flames on his trousers.

Mr Arjona suffered severe burns and has been airlifted to the burn unit of the Rio Hortega University Hospital in Valladolid – his friend, mechanic Juan Lozano, told Reuters news agency.

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“[The wildfire] could have burnt everything, absolutely everything. It did not because there are good professionals and people who have the balls to protect us,” Mr Lozano said.

In the Zamora region, at least two people have been killed by wildfires. The body of a 69-year-old farmer was found on Monday in the same hilly area where a 62-year-old firefighter died the previous day.

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Across western Europe, swathes of woodland and residential areas have been destroyed by wildfires partly caused by heatwaves.

Over the past 10 days, the total area burned by wildfires in France, Spain and Portugal exceeds 40,000 hectares – according to the European Union. This is equivalent to at least 75 football fields.

On Tuesday, officials said there was a “very extreme danger” of wildfires in France, Italy, Spain and the UK – according to heat maps distributed by Copernicus Emergency Management Service.

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez blamed climate change for the destruction, as the country has had more than 10 days of temperatures exceeding 40C.

He said on Monday during a visit to the Extremadura region: “Climate change kills. It kills people, it kills our ecosystems and biodiversity.”

Teresa Ribera, Spain’s minister for ecological transition, described her country as “literally under fire” as she attended talks on climate change in Berlin, and warned of “terrifying prospects still for the days to come”.

In Portugal, where the heat reached 47C earlier this month, bodies of an elderly couple were found inside a charred vehicle after they were involved in a car accident while trying to escape a wildfire in the northern municipality of Murça.

Murça’s mayor, Mario Artur Lopes, said that the couple’s bodies were discovered around 4.30pm on Monday – adding that “more than half of the municipality on fire.”