At least 13 killed in Spain wildfire

Monday, July 13, 2026 -The de@th toll from one of Spain's de@dliest wildfires in recent years has risen to 13 after a British woman succumbed to injuries sustained in the blaze that swept through the southeastern province of Almería.

The woman, 93, was among eight people admitted to hospital following the fire, four of them with serious injuries.

The Andalusian regional government said in a statement that the woman, who had pre-existing medical conditions, had been admitted to the emergency room in the early hours of Friday morning with burns covering 20% of her body.

Regional emergency chief Antonio Sanz expressed condolences to the family of the woman, and others k!lled in one of Spain's deadliest-ever wildfires, which burned more than 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) in the Los Gallardos municipality.

Spain's forensic services data unit, the CID, said on Sunday night that two more people had been reported missing after it started working with authorities in France, Britain and Belgium to formally register their cases, bringing the total to 10.

The CID said in a statement it was now allowing family members overseas to report their loved ones missing and provide DNA samples in their countries of origin, and it expected to receive more reports in the coming days.

Authorities have not formally identified the de@d, which may include some of the individuals reported as missing.

The Belgian government said on Sunday it believed there were three Belgian nationals among the victims of the Los Gallardos fires.

One of those was 63-year-old Belgian businessman Stanislas Verdonckt, whose son, Belgian virologist ‌Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, said he was last in contact with his father by phone just before 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Thursday evening.

The president of the regional government of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, posted on social media at midday on Sunday that the fire had been contained and its perimeter secured.

More than 1,000 residents were given the all clear to return to their homes in the evacuated villages north of Los Gallardos on Sunday afternoon.