Fifth British national identified as victim of wildfire in Spain

A fifth British national has been identified as a victim of a wildfire in southern Spain in which killed more than a dozen people.

Authorities in Almeria said on Monday that a British national and a Belgian couple were the latest people to be identified following the blaze that swept across the Andalusia region last week.

Thirteen people have so far died in the tragedy. Of those identified - all of whom are adults - five are from the United Kingdom, three are from Belgium, one is from France, and one is a Spanish citizen.

Officials said earlier on Monday that a 93-year-old British woman had died after being admitted to hospital on Friday with burns covering 20% of her body.

Ten people are still missing, according Spain's forensic services data unit, the CID, and some of those could be among the bodies not yet identified following the country's deadliest wildfire in more than four decades.

Investigators said DNA analysis remains the only viable identification method because of the condition of the remains.

Perimeter secured

At around midday on Sunday, the president of the regional government of Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, said that the fire - which burned more than 7,000 hectares (17,300 acres) in Los Gallardos in Almeria province when it broke out on Thursday - 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, while the wildfire alert was lowered to ​the pre-emergency level.

However, Mr Moreno urged citizens to remain vigilant throughout the summer, noting that in Andalusia, Spain's most populous region, an average of 15 forest fires ⁠were breaking out every day, rising at times to as many ​as 22.

Read more from Sky News:
Ex-Spanish PM under fire for saying France has 'no French players'
Dozens killed in Bangkok bar fire

'Sadness and desolation'

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was due to visit the affected area on Monday.

Last week, Mr Sanchez said he felt "immense sadness and desolation in the face of the terrible consequences of the fire affecting the province of Almeria".

He added: "I want to convey my condolences to the families of those who died in the Los Gallardos forest fire.

"My wishes for a speedy recovery to the injured and my solidarity with all the affected neighbours."

Spain and much of southern Europe, including Portugal and Greece, is facing increasingly severe wildfire seasons that scientists have linked to climate change.

Experts say unusually heavy rainfall earlier this year spurred vegetation growth across parts ⁠of southern Spain, which later dried out ​in extreme summer heat and helped the fire spread more rapidly.

Meanwhile, in France, a wildfire of "exceptional scale" broke out in a forest near Paris, burning at least 800 hectares (1,977 acres).

It comes after several wildfires raged across the country over the weekend as temperatures soared, reaching the mid-30s in the capital.

(c) Sky News 2026: Fifth British national identified as victim of wildfire in Spain