Madrid, Spain
As wildfires devastate Spain, a Netherlands-based company has acknowledged it was responsible for the fire in the Ateca forest in northeast Spainâs Aragon region.
Land Life said the fire started after a spark jumped from an excavator although no one was injured. Reports claimed at least 14,000 hectares of forest was destroyed and more than 2,000 people were evacuated.
Also Read: Over 1,700 deaths in Spain, Portugal due to wildfires
Land Life director Francisco Purroy said the company will "analyse and investigate what rules and ways of working we can apply" and announced that it was suspending all site preparation in areas with a high risk of wildfire.
Authorities moved to close down highways and shut down train connections as the wildfire raged.
Watch: Heatwave in Europe causes wildfires across continent
"The safety of local communities and people working on nature restoration is the first priority,â Purroy added. Spain has been devasted by wildfire this year even as Spain's Prime minister Pedro Sanchez said more than 500 people had died due to the heatwave sweeping the country.
Land Life said it was "devastated" as it emphasised that it had appropriate authorisation by local authorities and vowed to restore the devasted land.
Spain's northwestern province of Zamora has been wrecked by wildfire with thousands of people being evacuated. Last month wildfire ravaged nearly 30,000 hectares of land in Spain's Sierra de la Culebra bordering Portugal. The country has witnessed vast swathes of its rural lands being enveloped with wildfire.
According to the European Union's satellite monitoring service EFFIS, Spain has already lost nearly 200,000 hectares of forest due to the fire.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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