"Hard to Believe," Spreading in an Instant... Evacuation Orders Issued for 230,000 People

[Anchor]

Massive wildfires are spreading fiercely across Europe. Evacuation orders have been issued for 230,000 people in Spain and France alone. Spain has declared a state of emergency and requested urgent assistance from the European Union.

Reporting by Kim Yong-tae.

[Reporter]

Entire residential areas are engulfed in flames and smoke.

Fierce flames that were burning through forests are jumping from house to house driven by the wind.

Cars have been reduced to ashes with only their metal frames remaining, and firefighters fought the flames through the night while establishing defense lines.

Three wildfires that broke out west of the Spanish capital of Madrid on Friday, local time, merged into a massive wildfire.

It burned 30 square kilometers in an instant, and firefighters struggled to extinguish the fire due to dry weather and extreme temperatures exceeding 40°C (104°F).

[Isabel Diaz Ayuso / President of the Community of Madrid : As you can see, the wildfires are very active. This is an unprecedented situation. With the combination of high temperatures and relentless strong winds sweeping through like a storm, there is no time to rest.]

Spain has declared a state of emergency due to wildfires for the first time in its history and issued evacuation orders for 25,000 people.

[Evacuated Resident (Spain) : I went out to the garden and flames were shooting up. The fire brigade shouted at us to evacuate.]

More than 30 wildfires have also broken out in France, which neighbors Spain.

In particular, in the southwestern Gironde region, the fires have burned 220 square kilometers, which is more than twice the area of Paris.

With evacuation orders issued for 210,000 people, lines of fleeing vehicles continued late into the night.

[Renaud / Evacuated Resident (France) : It is unimaginable and hard to believe, but there is nothing we can do. The government could have taken faster action.]

Spain and France have requested emergency assistance from the European Union (EU), and the EU has decided to dispatch firefighting aircraft and helicopters.

Video by Lee Seung-yeol | Graphics by Kang Yoon-jung
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.