Spanish Civil War ruins offer lesson on cost of conflict

The entrance to the ruins of the old village of Belchite is seen in northern Spain, October 3, 2016. REUTERS/Andrea Comas

BELCHITE, Spain (Reuters) - Almost 80 years ago Tomas Ortin fled under the cover of night from his home in the small town of Belchite on Spain's northern plains to escape with hundreds of others from one of the bloodiest battles of the country's civil war.

At 94 years old, Ortin now lives just across the road from Belchite, which has lain in ruins since Republican forces attacked it, a symbol of the destruction caused by the 1936-1939 war in which an estimated 500,000 people died.