{"id":685262,"date":"2026-07-11T01:48:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T01:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/685262\/"},"modified":"2026-07-11T01:48:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T01:48:09","slug":"four-britons-feared-dead-as-spanish-wildfire-kill-at-least-12-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/685262\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Britons feared dead as Spanish wildfire kill at least 12 people"},"content":{"rendered":"

Play Brightcove video<\/p>\n

Hundreds of soldiers and firefighters have been battling to control the flames, as ITV News\u2019 Sejal Karia reports<\/p>\n

Four British people are thought to have died in a Spanish wildfire, after four bodies were found in a burnt-out car which had its steering wheel on the right.<\/p>\n

Antonio Sanz, Andalusia\u2019s health and emergencies minister, said the people inside the car were believed to be “of British origin”.<\/p>\n

They were among at least 12 people who perished in the fire, authorities said on Friday.<\/p>\n

The blaze, one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires, broke out late Thursday in a semi-arid area near the Sierra de Los Filabres mountains in Almeria province, as the country has been dealing with soaring temperatures. <\/p>\n

Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter <\/a>for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning. <\/p>\n

The bodies were found near the village of B\u00e9dar, and authorities believe the other seven victims were also foreign tourists.<\/p>\n

They were thought to have attempted to escape on foot after apparently abandoning their vehicles and trying to flee through rugged terrain.<\/p>\n

Sanz said: “The decision to take another route instead of the designated evacuation route became a fatal trap.”<\/p>\n

He said the victims had sought “their own way out” through a dry riverbed rather than following the route co-ordinated by emergency services.<\/p>\n

Four British people are thought to have died in a Spanish wildfire. Credit: PA<\/p>\n

Sanz offered his condolences to the families, adding: “There are no words for so much pain.”<\/p>\n

He said there were 12 dead, four seriously injured and eight others with less serious injuries.<\/p>\n

Formal identification of the deceased has yet to be carried out, he added.<\/p>\n

Sanz said 122 people were evacuated and more than 3,000 hectares burnt, with the fire still active.<\/p>\n

He said: “The fire has been very fast, and evidently the consequences have been terrible.”<\/p>\n

Dean Taylor, a resident who divides his time between Spain and the UK, said he managed to just barely escape the neighbourhood by using back roads to get out.<\/p>\n

He said: “It was quite terrifying.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s a very sad day, isn\u2019t it? It\u2019s devastating, really.”<\/p>\n

Moreno, the Andalusian regional leader, said containing the fire was difficult because of the steep, dry terrain.<\/p>\n

He said: “It consists mainly of scrubland and esparto grass.<\/p>\n

“Everything is extremely dry due to the heat waves, making it the perfect fuel; combined with the wind, it\u2019s a ticking time bomb.”<\/p>\n

Several victims of the fire in Almeria were found inside burned-out vehicles, local media reported. Credit: AP<\/p>\n

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez expressed his condolences.<\/p>\n

He wrote on X: “Immense sadness and desolation in the face of the terrible consequences of the fire affecting the province of Almeria.”<\/p>\n

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper wrote on X: “Saddened by the devastating wildfires in Almeria.<\/p>\n

“My thoughts are with all those affected, including British nationals.<\/p>\n

“We are in close contact with the Spanish authorities and stand ready to support those affected.<\/p>\n

“Those in the area should continue to follow official advice.”<\/p>\n

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know <\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Play Brightcove video Hundreds of soldiers and firefighters have been battling to control the flames, as ITV News\u2019…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":685263,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[49,50,51,47,52,48],"class_list":["post-685262","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685262","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=685262"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/685262\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/685263"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=685262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=685262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=685262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}