Man who refused to be evacuated in Benahavís fire dies in hospital

The man suffered burns while trying to put out the fire shortly after the flames broke out and, although he was initially taken to the Hospital Regional in Malaga, he was eventually transferred to the burns unit at the Virgen del Rocío University Hospital in Seville. He remained there from 14 September until this Monday, when he died as a result of his burns, as confirmed to SUR by sources at the regional ministry of health and emergencies of the Andalusian regional government.

The latest information provided on the matter was on 14 September, the day after the incident, when it was reported that he had been transferred to the hospital in Seville and that he was in a stable condition; he died, however, after more than a week in hospital.

The man, of Jordanian origin, was at home with at least his wife and a domestic worker. Both women were evacuated by the emergency services deployed to tackle the wildfire, as were their pets, but the man chose to stay at home and tried to prevent the flames from reaching his house.

The fire broke out near the Rosario chapel at around 12.30pm on 13 September. On the 14th at 7.30pm, some 31 hours later, the Infoca Plan declared the fire to be under control, moving the situation from an operational emergency to the pre-emergency stage under which operations had initially begun.

The fire was not declared extinguished until 8pm on Monday, coinciding with the death of this 78-year-old man at the Virgen del Rocío Hospital in Seville. The number of personnel fighting the fire fluctuated, but at times there were more than twenty aircraft in operation, and by 14 September, up to 300 firefighters had been deployed to extinguish the flames, including firefighters from the provincial fire service and Marbella town council, among other localities.

On 13 September, when the fire broke out, in addition to the man who ultimately died, an Infoca worker and a local resident were injured, though both sustained only minor injuries: the former suffered a fractured wrist after a fall, and the latter suffered smoke inhalation. During the other eight days spent fighting the fire, no further injuries have been reported.