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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
National
Matt Watts

Seven Brits confirmed among those killed in Spain wildfires

Seven Britons are among those killed in deadly wildfires in southern Spain, authorities have said.

Twelve of the 13 victims were identified as foreign nationals after post-mortem examinations were held.

In a statement, officials said seven of the victims were from the United Kingdom, three from Belgium, one from France and another from the United States, with the remaining victim a Spanish citizen. Eight of the victims were women and five were men.

The wildfires, which tore through Spain's Almería province on Thursday, have become one of the country's deadliest.

Among the British nationals who died were couple Pete and Fran Gillam, who lived in Bédar, a village that was devastated by the wildfire. Their deaths were confirmed by their family.

Posting on Facebook, their daughter Danielle Gillam-Kirton, from Sheffield, said the family were "heartbroken to share that we have received confirmation from the police that Mum and Dad did not survive the fire".

Another Briton presumed dead is Annette Kilgore, 69, who was missing after fleeing the flames in her home village of Bedar.

She was separated from her husband Malcolm Timbrell, 70, who went back to get their two cats.

Mr Timbrell and Ms Kilgore moved to Bedar after being shown the property when they appeared on the Channel 4 programme A Place in the Sun.

The couple had decided to flee by car with neighbours but Mr Timbrell went back to get their pets and when he tried to catch up with the rest of the group, saw they had left their cars and were trying to flee the flames on foot.

He told the BBC: “My wife and our other seven friends and neighbours – against me screaming at them not to – decided the only safe way was to walk out in front of the firewall.

“I’ve subsequently heard that that firewall was moving at 20 kilometres per hour, plus. They had no chance.”

Mr Timbrell said he and one of the cats managed to avoid the flames by moving into each abandoned car in turn before it was caught up in the fire.

A 93-year-old British woman is also confirmed to be among those killed in the wildfires in the region.

The Andalusian government said the 93-year-old woman was taken to hospital on Friday after suffering burns to about 20% of her body and her death was confirmed on Sunday afternoon.

On Sunday it was reported that two British hikers had been found alive but badly burned.

Spain has suffered frequent and severe heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 40C.

The fire, which has now been contained, burned through about 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of land, authorities said.

Nearly 1,500 people were evacuated from Almería province as firefighters battled the flames.

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