“It suddenly became night,” one passenger on board the train said
A train was forced to stop unexpectedly in the Spanish countryside as wildfires encroached on both sides of the track.
Passengers on board a service from Madrid to Ferrol in Galicia were given a fright when they looked out of the window to see flames engulfing the vegetation and smoke darkening the blue skies.
The apocalyptic scenes were filmed on Monday morning in the province of Zamora, where blazes have charred large areas of woodland over recent days.
According to the regional government, wildfires have burned 10,000 hectares (24,700 acres) and forced authorities to evacuate 14 villages in the Tábara municipality.
Local newspaper El Correo de Zamora called it “the biggest disaster in the province so far this century.”
Passengers travelling through the region on Monday spoke of their shock at seeing the scenes unfold.
Francisco Seoane, from Spain, told The Associated Press: “It was really scary to see how quickly the fire spread. Just in the blink of an eye, a new bush began burning. It was a matter of seconds.”
“It suddenly became night,” he added. “And we could even smell the smoke” inside the carriage.
Video of the unscheduled stop shows about a dozen passengers in Mr Seoane’s carriage becoming increasingly alarmed as they look out of the windows.
An Adif spokeswoman told AP that no passengers were in danger but the Spanish wildfires are raising wider concern over the ongoing climate crisis which looks to be taking effect across various different parts of the globe.
In climate change news, a video circulating on 🇪🇸 🇵🇹 social medias shows the moment when a Train from Madrid-Ferrol (Galicia) is surrounded by wildfires in Zamora caused by the ongoing heatwave in Iberian Peninsulapic.twitter.com/00Tx3iQOxm
— Carlos Manuel ☭ 🆓both here and IRL… (@cpimentel986) July 18, 2022
On Tuesday, Extinction Rebellion protestors smashed up the windows of News UK HQ and spray-painted messages urging the likes of Murdoch Press and other British media to “tell the truth” when reporting on the scorching heatwave.
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