A British couple has been rescued from a ravine in Spain's Almeria province, found badly burned and semi-conscious after being caught in deadly wildfires. The pair, believed to have been hiking, were evacuated and are now in intensive care, according to local media reports.
The wildfires, which spread rapidly through the province on Thursday, have claimed at least 12 lives, including four believed to be Britons, and scorched 6,600 hectares (16,300 acres) of land. Local authorities have not yet officially confirmed the identities of those killed.
Civil Guard officers discovered the couple in the early hours of Friday morning while searching for survivors near Bédar, one of the worst-hit villages. Sergeant Pedro Barre, one of the rescuers, recounted hearing distant cries for help. "As you gain more experience, something inside you tells you, 'Look again, try one more time,'" he told Spain's TVE state broadcaster.
The rescue team followed the sound down a hillside, finding the couple in critical condition with severe burns covering 40% of their bodies.
Rafael Zea, another officer involved, described their ability to call out in such a state as a "titanic effort," while Barre added, "We'll never forget that look of surprise and emotion on their faces."
By Sunday, Andalusia's regional government head, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, announced on social media that "the fire has been contained and its perimeter secured," and the overall alert had been downgraded. Firefighters, numbering in the hundreds, had made significant progress on Saturday, aided by calmer winds and higher air humidity.
Approximately 600 of the nearly 1,500 people evacuated from the fire zone in Almería province were cleared to return home, according to regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz.
Despite the containment, emergency operations continued near Bédar, with police restricting access to the town. Dozens of residents gathered at a roundabout beneath the village on Sunday, hoping to be allowed back to their homes, many unsure if their properties had survived. Among them were Mike and Belinda Lithgoe from Cornwall, who own a holiday property nearby.
They had been sleeping in their camper van with their dog, Rocket, since the fires began. The couple was later informed they would have a one-hour window on Sunday to check on their home, following a meeting between the village mayor and emergency services.
"We're waiting to see if our house is still there," Belinda said, expressing hope that the smoke had been on the other side of the mountain when they fled. Mike acknowledged, "It's impossible to know. You hope it will have gone down the ravine and round rather than up through the village."
Emma Mitchell, another resident waiting nearby with her husband, challenged earlier statements from local authorities suggesting some victims had not used designated evacuation routes. "We've lived here for three years full time and there has never been information that you should take this road if there is a fire, never," she stated.
The son of a Belgian man who died in the fires also disputed claims that his father and other victims ignored official advice to shelter in place, telling Reuters that emergency services provided no guidance.
Emma also criticized the lack of a mobile alert system, similar to those used for earthquakes. "I think they should have done the mobile alert… but the reality is, out here in Bédar, there are very few officials," she said. Local officials had previously explained that an alert was not issued on Thursday night to avoid reaching people beyond the affected area and potentially complicating evacuations, though Emma praised the individual efforts of her local policeman and firefighters.
Los Gallardos mayor Francisco Miguel Reyes told Spanish radio station Cadena SER on Friday that "it feels like a bomb has fallen" on the area, noting, "This is the first time we've faced a fire as devastating as this." Hundreds of firefighters, military, law enforcement personnel, and 30 aircraft continued to respond to the blaze.
Forensic scientists in Madrid are working to identify the victims using samples from the bodies and DNA from families of the missing, a process slowed by the difficulty of collecting DNA from relatives traveling from other countries. With at least 12 fatalities, these wildfires are already among the deadliest in Spanish history, recalling the 1984 fire on La Gomera that killed 20, and a 1979 forest fire near Lloret de Mar that claimed 21 lives, including nine children.
This summer's sustained heatwave, with temperatures around 40C (104F), has fueled wildfires across Southern Europe, including France, Portugal, and Spain. Climate change is driving global temperature increases, with Europe warming twice as fast as the global average, leading to more intense heatwaves, water supply pressure, and severe wildfires.
France has also battled extensive wildfires this summer, with over 10,000 people evacuated from the French Pyrenees on Monday, and 32 arrests made on Saturday on suspicion of starting fires.
'Really frightening, unbelievably quick': Witnesses describe fleeing deadly Spain wildfire
An Andalusia Wildfire Service helicopter damping down embers on Saturday
