Friday, 6 November 2026

BBC News - World

A wildfire killed their loved ones in Spain. These British families demand to know why

Relatives of Britons killed in this summer's wildfires in Spain have told the BBC they are disgusted, after regional politicians blocked an official inquiry into the disaster. Nine British nationals were among the 15 people who died when fire ripped through the hillside village of Bédar, in the province of Almería in south-eastern Spain, on 9 July. Families have criticised the authorities' actions, including the decision not to send an emergency alert to mobile phones as the flames closed in. "If that evacuation warning had come through in time, my father would still be alive," says Duncan Chard, who blames failures by officials on the day for a number of the deaths.

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