Firefighters in Spain have found the bodies of two people after a fire swept through the northeast of the country, which is currently paralyzed by an extremely severe heatwave.

This week, extreme heat in Europe broke temperature records, led to school closures, and significantly increased the risk of fires.

On Tuesday, July 1, authorities in Catalonia ordered about 14,000 people to stay in their homes due to two forest fires that broke out almost simultaneously in the province of Lleida.

In one of the fires, near the town of Cosco, “firefighters found two lifeless bodies,” the fire and emergency services said in a statement.

The exact cause of the fire remains unclear, but according to the services, the combination of prolonged heat, drought, and strong winds caused by storms has intensified the spread of the fire.

The regional president of Catalonia, Salvador Illa, expressed “deep regret for the death of two people as a result of the fire” in a post on social media.

Just hours earlier, police in the region reported another tragic incident in which a two-year-old child died after being left for hours in a parked car in the sun.

Spain is in the grip of a severe heatwave, with temperatures above 40°C in many areas and several records broken for the month of June.

Over the weekend, two men working on the roads died, one in the southern city of Cordoba and the other in Barcelona, most likely from heatstroke.

According to scientists, extreme weather events such as heat waves and storms are becoming more frequent and more intense due to human-induced climate change.

In recent years, tens of thousands of people have died during heat waves in Europe, prompting authorities to issue warnings to the elderly, children, the sick, and all vulnerable people exposed to what experts call a “silent killer.” | BGNES, AFP