Mason Jones (Reporter)
THE forest fire that is still burning across the Costa del Sol has claimed its first fatality and two more are seriously injured.
The body of an unidentified man has been found in a tool shed near Marbella, while an elderly German couple are receiving treatment for burns covering 40-50% of their bodies.
The fire, which is now thought to have been started deliberately, is affecting Coin, Monda, Ojen, Alhaurin, Mijas and Marbella.
At least 4,000 people, many of them Britons, have been evacuated from their homes and moved to sports complexes, churches and public buildings.
Meanwhile owners of horses and other animals were forced to open stable doors to let them run as they fled from the blaze themselves.
17 fire-fighting aircraft have been used in an attempt to extinguish the flames with hundreds of firemen on the ground.
The Foreign Office said there had been no reports of any injuries to British residents, nor any requests for urgent assistance.
Expats have launched a group on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/312338028864557/) with more than a thousand people joining to offer help and support to those who have been affected.
