FIGUERES  - Hundreds of firefighters, backed by water-bombing planes, battled a wind-fuelled wildfire in northeast Spain Monday that left four French nationals dead and trapped thousands of people indoors. The blaze claimed its fourth life when a 64-year-old Frenchman who suffered 80 per cent burns after his car was engulfed in flames died at a Barcelona hospital, the Catalan regional govt said. Another 23 people were injured, including eight who remain in hospital. The wildfire broke out on Sunday near La Junquera and spread rapidly across the Alt Emporda region near the French border, whipped up by winds of up to 90km an hour. Smoke from the blaze, which has so far ravaged up to 13,000 hectares (32,000 acres) of land, reached Barcelona, Spain’s second-biggest city located some 150 kilometres (90 miles) south of the border. The fire remained “out of control”, the interior minister of Catalonia, Felip Puig, told reporters. It was likely caused by a cigarette butt or small explosive device that caught fire due to “recklessness or negligence”, he added.