Rainfall helps firefighters control southern Spain's inferno

Rain has helped to bring under control a major wildfire that ravaged 7,800 hectares (19,200 acres) of southern Spain despite more than five days of intense firefighting work by land and air

MADRID -- Authorities in southern Spain say that rain has helped to bring under control a major wildfire that ravaged 7,800 hectares (19,200 acres) of land despite more than five days of intense firefighting work by land and air. Juan Manuel Moreno, the president of the Andalusia region, said in a tweet early on Tuesday that “the rain that has been falling for some hours has been the best ally of the intense and admirable work of the crews.” But he said that the blaze in Sierra Bermeja, a mountain range close to the tourist-magnet Costa del Sol, is not over and that work to completely extinguish the flames is complex. Authorities say they have reasons to believe arson is behind the fire, which started in various hotspots late on Wednesday in an area that environmentalists say harbored a unique ecosystem. Spain's prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation.