málaga
Thirty firefighting aircraf tackle the blaze that affected Mijas, Coín, Alhaurin el Grande, Ojén and Marbella
31.08.12 - 11:09 -
Residents watch the flames from the road. Salvador Salas
On Friday morning the fire that was first detected in Coín at around 7 p.m. the previous evening was still burning out of control. During the night the blaze had forced the evacuation of thousands of people from homes and hotels in Coín, Las Cascadas in Calahonda, La Cala Resort, Ojén and Marbella, among other areas. The blaze was spread rapidly by the strong winds from the Coín area through Mijas and Alhaurín el Grande and later towards Marbella and Ojén. Many residents and tourists were directed towards the Mijas racecourse and other centres.
At around 3.30 a.m. on Friday morning there were reports of a three or four storey building burning in Elviria Hills and by 4 a.m. two people had been taken to the Costa del Sol Hospital with burns.
The AP-7 toll motorway was closed to traffic as was the A-7053, between Mijas, Fuengirola and Alhaurín, and the A.355 Ojén road.
Estimations on Friday morning pointed to around 1,000 hectares destroyed in the fire.
The Mayor of Mijas Ángel Nogal, spoke on the local TV station during the night of flames of up to 30 metres in height.
As well as 30 aircraft on Friday morning more than 500 firefighters were tackling the blaze along with 100 men from the emergency military unit.
