Tragic news emerged from Ukraine as Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares announced on Sunday that a Spanish volunteer aid worker had lost her life in a missile strike that targeted the vehicle she was traveling in.
Albares shared this devastating information during a press briefing at the G20 summit held in India. While he did not provide extensive details, Spanish media later identified the victim as Emma Igual, a 32-year-old who served as the director of “Road to Relief,” a non-profit organization focused on evacuating civilians from the frontlines in Ukraine.
According to a statement posted on the NGO’s Instagram account, the attack occurred in Chasiv Yar, located in eastern Ukraine, on Saturday morning. In the incident, not only did Emma Igual lose her life, but a Canadian aid worker was also killed, and two others were injured when their vehicle was subjected to what the NGO described as a “Russian attack.” The missile strike was so severe that it caused the vehicle to flip over and catch fire.
Among the injured, a German and a Swedish aid worker sustained shrapnel wounds and burns. However, the NGO reported that they were now in stable condition, receiving medical treatment in separate hospitals, some distance away from the scene of the attack.
The aid workers had embarked on their mission from Slovyansk and were en route to Bakhmut to assess the needs of civilians who had become caught in the crossfire in the town of Ivanivske. The fate of Emma Igual had initially remained uncertain at the time of the NGO’s initial statement regarding the incident. This tragic event underscores the dangers faced by humanitarian workers in conflict zones and the continued challenges in providing assistance to those affected by such conflicts.