A 93-year-old British woman has died from injuries sustained in the devastating wildfire that tore through the municipality of Los Gallardos in the Almeria province of Andalusia, raising the death toll to 13 in one of Spain’s deadliest wildfires on record.
The woman was among eight people admitted to hospital after the fire broke out on Thursday. According to the Andalusian regional government, she had pre-existing medical conditions and was admitted to hospital in the early hours of Friday morning suffering burns to around 20% of her body. Following her death, four people aged between 48 and 61 remain in hospital in Seville with serious but stable injuries.
Regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz offered his condolences to the families of the British woman and all those who lost their lives in the blaze, which has destroyed more than 7,000 hectares of land around Los Gallardos.
Meanwhile, search teams have completed an exhaustive three-day operation across the burned area and say they do not expect to find any further victims. Around 100 personnel took part in the operation, carrying out continuous foot searches of the most heavily affected areas, supported by drones and specialist dog units. Teams focused on destroyed homes and ravines to ensure nobody had been overlooked, rescuing only trapped animals during the final sweeps.
Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno, who visited the advanced command post during the operation, said the authorities no longer expected the death toll to rise. He also announced on Sunday that the wildfire had been contained and its perimeter secured. ALSO READ: Almeria wildfire stabilised as investigators work to identify victims and missing.
Attention has now turned to identifying the victims. The 12 bodies recovered from the fire have been transferred to the Institute of Legal Medicine in Almeria, but many were so badly damaged that specialists have been unable to determine their age or even their sex with certainty.
After extracting DNA profiles from the remains, Guardia Civil forensic experts are comparing them with samples provided by relatives. Moreno praised the work of the force’s biology department in Madrid, saying: ‘The Guardia Civil are doing a great job with the DNA analysis.’
He acknowledged that the identification process would be slow because of the condition of the bodies, although investigators already have some indications regarding several possible identities.
Spain’s forensic services data unit (CID) said on Sunday evening that it had begun working with authorities in France, Britain and Belgium to formally register missing persons from overseas.
Two additional reports were received on Sunday, bringing the number of officially reported missing people to 10. The CID has begun allowing relatives abroad to report loved ones missing and provide DNA samples in their home countries, and expects further reports in the coming days.
Authorities have stressed that the dead have not yet been formally identified and that some of those reported missing may ultimately be among the victims.
Separately, emergency services said eight formal missing persons reports have been filed, while they are continuing to monitor 23 cases involving people who have not yet been located.
Among those believed to have died is 63-year-old Belgian businessman Stanislas Verdonckt. His son, Belgian virologist Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, told the Reuters news agency that he was speaking to his father by telephone shortly before 9pm on Thursday as the wildfire rapidly approached.
According to Verdonckt, neither his father nor his neighbours received any warning or advice from the authorities, prompting them to attempt to flee on foot when the flames were almost upon them. The Andalusian regional government has maintained that the local mayor advised the group to remain where they were and shelter in place.
A French man has also identified one of the victims as his wife, a teacher who had arrived in the village of Bédar just two days earlier to spend a holiday at her husband’s family home.
Belgian authorities said on Sunday they believe three Belgian nationals may be among those killed in the wildfire.
With the fire now under control, more than 1,000 residents have gradually been allowed to return to their homes after evacuation orders were lifted. Residents of Alfaix, a hamlet of around 300 people within Los Gallardos municipality, were among the first to return, followed later by people from Bédar. Some residents, however, have chosen to remain with relatives or in second homes because of fears about returning.
Moreno urged people to remain vigilant throughout the summer, warning that Andalusia, Spain’s most populous region, is currently experiencing an average of 15 forest fires every day, with that figure sometimes rising to as many as 22. ALSO READ: At least 12 dead as devastating wildfire tears through southern Spain during heatwave.
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⚫️ Lamentamos el fallecimiento de la mujer de 93 años que permanecía hospitalizada tras resultar herida en el #IFLosGallardos.
— EMA 112 (@E112Andalucia) July 12, 2026
Trasladamos nuestras más sinceras condolencias y todo nuestro cariño a sus familiares y allegados en estos difíciles momentos.https://t.co/VKICyASMYf pic.twitter.com/b1zmyc1ZkN
#IFLosGallardos I Nuevas imágenes del Servicio Aéreo de la #GuardiaCivil de la zona extinguida del incendio de Los Gallardos.#SAER pic.twitter.com/pasM3TezCH
— Guardia Civil (@guardiacivil) July 12, 2026
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