British families plead for help finding loved-ones who have gone missing in Spain's deadly wildfires

By ELIANA SILVER, SENIOR FOREIGN NEWS REPORTER Published: 15:49, 10 July 2026 | Updated: 15:58, 10 July 2026 British families have taken to social media and local forums to plead for help in finding their loved ones who have gone missing in Spain's deadly wildfires. At least six Brits are among those missing after the fires swept through Bedar, Almeria, killing 12 people, including four Brits. The death toll has increased from the previously reported 11. Bedar has one of the highest concentrations of Brits in Spain, according to a local journalist. Out of the 1,009 people living there, 447 are British nationals, according to statistics from 2022. Danielle Gillam-Kirton from Sheffield posted a photo of her parents on Facebook with the caption: ‘My parents, Pete and Fran Gillam, live in Bedar and we are trying to get in touch with them to make sure they are OK.’ She said her mother’s final text message arrived at 6.53pm on Thursday, saying they were evacuating because of the wildfire. ‘None of our messages or calls since have been successful,’ she added. Patricia McGough posted that her daughter Caitie disappeared after evacuating the wildfire area. ‘My daughter is missing,’ she wrote on Facebook alongside a photo of her daughter and dog, adding: ‘She was driving a red Ford Fiesta and had her dog with her. Has anyone seen her?’ Meanwhile, a post in the Mojacar Playa Community Facebook group asks people to look out for a couple named Simon and Lisa who were cut off by the wildfire and have not been heard from since. Simon reportedly uses crutches. And the Mojacar Area Cancer Support charity has circulated a photo of Annette Kilgour, whose family say they have also been unable to contact her. Danielle Gillam-Kirton from Sheffield posted a photo of her parents Pete and Fran Gillam on Facebook Patricia McGough, posted that her daughter Caitie disappeared after evacuating the wildfire area The Mojacar Area Cancer Support charity has circulated a photo of Annette Kilgour, who is missing Your browser does not support iframes. Witnesses told authorities the blaze may have started after a power line fell, igniting dry vegetation Others around the world are also desperately searching, with Sophie Vanderbroek, a woman living in Boston, posting a message to the local emergency services saying her brother had been among a group of 10 people who tried to escape through a valley next to a stream. Fear was growing on Friday that the death toll could rise considerably as regional president Juanma Moreno confirmed 23 people were still unaccounted for.  Red Cross spokesman Fran Vicente said: 'We are receiving a lot of calls. There's a large foreign population and especially a lot of British nationals, in the area affected by the fire. 'They're ringing to try to find out information about their relatives because they can't locate them and we're trying to give them the correct information and the peace of mind they need through coordination with the forces of law and order.' One Brit living in Scotland posted on X overnight: 'My dad is in hospital. His house in Bedar has been evacuated and his cat is trapped inside.' He went on to post the address in the hope that rescue teams and Civil Protection workers would see his message and respond. Four Brits died in one vehicle, while seven others were found dead after apparently abandoning their cars to try to escape on foot, according to Antonio Sanz, head of emergencies in the Andalusia region. Ten of the victims appeared to be foreign nationals, while one Spaniard has been confirmed dead, he said. Witnesses told authorities the blaze may have started after a power line fell, igniting dry vegetation before spreading rapidly through surrounding woodland. Authorities have not confirmed the cause of the fire. Roads were closed and residents evacuated as the inferno spread, with about 50 people housed in a cultural centre. The origin of the accident, which prompted more than 150 emergency calls, is located on a road in the area.  Sonia, a British woman who lives in Los Gallardos, shared her terrifying ordeal escaping the wildfires  She said that she had taken in relatives as the authorities had told them to evacuate at 7pm, adding that they had been told to avoid the main route out of Bedar, driving out on a back route further up into the mountains instead before doubling back towards the coast. 'There are many houses in the middle of the countryside in the mountains, so people would take whichever roads they could,' she said. 'The road from Bédar to Los Gallardos was blocked, since the fire had crossed the road and it was impassable.' One evacuee from Bedar told Spanish news agency EFE that people 'tried to flee and entire families died inside the car.' 'Many English people, Germans, and other neighbours were caught off guard by the fire as they fled. They saw the flames, tried to escape, some took alternative routes... Entire families have been burned alive inside their cars,' he said.  Sanz said residents of Bedar had been told either to take a recommended evacuation route, or stay in their homes given that the fire was so close.  Firefighters of the Infoca (Andalusia Wildfire Service) monitor a fire in the area of a wildfire that killed 12 near Beda The wildfire comes as Spain swelters in a heatwave, with scorching temperatures triggering orange weather warnings Residents talk as they get ready to leave their homes while smoke and flames rise during a wildfire A man watches flames close to houses, in the area of a wildfire Evacuees from Bedar rest in the sports hall of Garrucha, near Los Gallardos, in Almeria Province Evacuees from Bedar are registered in the sports hall of Garrucha, near Los Gallardos, in Almeria Province 'In situations like this, it is essential that we all follow the routes indicated,' he said. 'Unfortunately in this instance a decision was taken to use another route that wasn't the one recommended for evacuation. Looking for another way out via a dry riverbed turned out to be a trap.'  'The village of Bedar in the end wasn't affected by the flames in most cases so that order to shelter in place avoided a more serious situation,' he added. Antonio Rubio, a handyman living in Bedar, however, said the smoke had made it impossible to shelter in place. 'We left the house yesterday (Thursday) afternoon at 5 o'clock. The fire didn't reach my house – it stopped just short of it – but we could already see so much smoke, even though the fire was some distance away, so we had to leave,' he said. 'We did so of our own accord.' Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez wrote on X that he was 'deeply saddened and devastated by the terrible consequences of the wildfire'. He said in May that Spain would deploy its largest-ever summer wildfire response this year. The head of the regional government of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, called the blaze 'a tragedy'. 'Our hearts are heavy and we are devastated by grief,' he wrote on X. The wildfire comes as Spain swelters in a heatwave, with scorching temperatures triggering orange weather warnings - the second highest level - across parts of Andalusia in recent days. Spain has experienced increasingly frequent and prolonged heatwaves in recent years, with temperatures often exceeding 40C, creating conditions for major wildfires. The country registered its third-warmest year on record in 2025, with 25 single-day heat records set during the period, the national weather agency AEMET said. Earlier this month, hundreds of firefighters battled a wildfire that raged near the popular Mediterranean tourist destination of Costa Brava and forced thousands to stay indoors. Strong winds whipped up the fire and prompted regional authorities to urge residents of 10 municipalities to remain at home, including at the popular Platja d'Aro beach resort. Deadly wildfires devoured almost 400,000 hectares of land last year, the highest figure recorded for the country by the European Forest Fire Information System.