British couple confirmed to have been killed by deadly wildfires in Spain

A vehicle belonging to Andalusia’s emergency firefighting service crashed in the charred landscape of Bédar, Spain on Monday. Photograph: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images View image in fullscreen A vehicle belonging to Andalusia’s emergency firefighting service crashed in the charred landscape of Bédar, Spain on Monday. Photograph: Jorge Guerrero/AFP/Getty Images British couple confirmed to have been killed by deadly wildfires in Spain Authorities ask for DNA to help identify victims as local government leader says ‘we are in a state of climate chaos’ A British couple have been named as two victims of the wildfires in Spain that have killed 13 people, as authorities race to use DNA to identify those who did not manage to escape the blaze. Pete and Fran Gillam, who lived in Bédar, the village that bore the brunt of the wildfires on Thursday, are believed not to have survived.. Their daughter, Danielle Gillam-Kirton wrote on Facebook: “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.” 1:02 Wildfires rage in parts of France and Spain after record heatwave – video The family had been searching for the couple since Thursday. Gillam-Kirton’s mother had texted her at about 7pm that evening to say they were evacuating, but the couple had not been heard from since. Messages and calls failed to go through to either parent. Relatives of those missing have been asked to go to the area’s civil office to provide DNA samples, as many of the victims are so badly burned that it is impossible to identify them without it. Spanish authorities confirmed that a British couple was among the first victims identified on Monday, as well as a Spanish man and his British wife. Additionally, one national each from the US, France and Belgium have been identified as victims. These were the first people identified out of 12 bodies found at the fire’s centre. Andalusian regional authorities said on Sunday that a 93-year-old British woman injured in the fire had died in hospital. View image in fullscreen The wildfires have devastated the small village of Bédar in southern Spain. Photograph: Gregorio Marrero/AP The authorities have cautioned that the number of missing people remains uncertain until autopsies and the identification of bodies are completed. Officials coordinating the identification work said on Sunday that 10 formal reports of people missing had been submitted. ‘I had an incredible escape’: British woman tells of close encounter with Spanish wildfire Read more The fire ripped through the picturesque village, which is home to many Britons , and moved at such speed that some were unable to escape. Burned-out cars litter the road leading out of Bédar and the authorities confirmed that the passengers in these vehicles burned alive in their cars as they tried to escape. There