At least 14 firefighters died while trying to control a forest blaze that destroyed about 12,000 acres of woodland and forced hundreds of people to evacuate their villages in drought-stricken Spain.

At least 14 firefighters died today while trying to control a forest blaze that destroyed about 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) of woodland and forced hundreds of people to evacuate their villages in drought-stricken Spain, an Interior Ministry spokesman said.