Pete and Fran Gillam, who lived in Bédar – one of the villages hit hardest by Spain’s wildfires – were among the 13 people killed in the blaze, the couple’s daughter said
A British couple who died alongside multiple others during the wildfires in Spain have been named and pictured.
Pete and Fran Gillam, who lived in Bédar – one of the hardest hit villages – were among the 13 people killed as deadly fires tore through southern Spain, the couple’s daughter said.
The pair had been missing since Thursday evening after Fran sent her daughter a text at around 7pm to say they were evacuating. Contact was then cut off as messages and calls failed to go through to either parent.
Posting to Facebook, Danielle Gillam-Kirton wrote: “We are heartbroken to share that we have received confirmation from the police that Mum and Dad did not survive the fire.
“Thank you for all your love, support and prayers over the past few days. They have meant more to us than we can ever express.”
Authorities in Spain are now racing to use DNA to identify those who were unable to escape the blaze.
Relatives of those missing have been asked to provide samples to the Bédar’s civil office, with many victims suffering burns so severe that it would be impossible to identify them without it.
Officials confirmed that a British couple were among the first victims identified on Monday. A Spanish man and his British wife, as well as a French woman and Belgian man have also been identified as victims.
On Sunday, Andalucían regional authorities said a 93-year-old British woman injured in the fire had died in hospital.
The number of missing people remains unclear until autopsies and the identification of bodies are carried out.
Authorities say burned-out cars which were left abandoned in the road leading out of Bédar were holding passengers that were burned alive as they tried to leave the province.
Bodies found inside a gutted right-hand-drive Honda Accord are likely to be those of at least four more British victims.
Penelope Howe, 54, who lives near Bédar, said her friend’s husband died in his car while trying to evacuate with his cats out of the Los Gallardos area of Almería province.
“She’s in deep shock,” Howe said. “At one point he needed to stop and she spoke to him on the phone. He had got the cats and was trapped in the car. They were speaking together for the last few minutes. That was how it ended.”
Scorching temperatures, incredibly dry ground and powerful winds saw the fire spread rapidly across the region on Thursday afternoon.
It comes as much of Europe, including Spain, has battled extreme heatwaves, with some areas of Spain recording temperatures of up to 44C.