Twelve people were killed in a wildfire in Almería in southern Spain, with 150 firefighters working to ‌put out the blaze, the Emergency Agency of Andalucía said early on Friday.

Minister of the Presidency, Health, and Emergencies Antonio ​Sanz called the fire “the most devastating fire to ​date in our region” and described the situation ⁠as an “unprecedented tragedy”.

Earlier, there were reports of six ​deaths from the wildfire.

“Our deepest condolences to the families ​of the six people who lost their lives in the Los Gallardos and the affection from all of us to the ​municipalities affected by the fire,” Juanma Moreno, the leader ​of Spain’s southern Andalusia region wrote in a post on X.

Los ‌Gallardos ⁠is a municipality of the Almería province in Spain’s southern region of Andalusia.

The blaze comes after a wildfire burning out of control in southern France earlier this week forced ​the evacuation of ​over 10,000 ⁠people from two dozen small towns and villages near the Spanish border.

Early summer heatwaves ​across western Europe in May and June ​have ⁠parched vast areas of land, making them particularly vulnerable to wildfires this year.

Europe is warming at more than ⁠twice ​the global average, the World Meteorological ​Organization has said, making prolonged heat episodes increasingly likely.