Wildfire in Spanish village kills 13, one British man survives in car

Malcolm Timbrell survived a wildfire in the Spanish village of Bédar by sheltering inside a car as flames passed over it, while his wife Annette Kilgore and 12 friends and neighbours died, @BBCWorld reported. The fire consumed the village in Almería province on Thursday evening. Timbrell, 70, and Kilgore, 69, had lived there for years after appearing on the Channel 4 programme A Place in the Sun.

The couple had been partners for 17 years. As flames approached their hillside property, the group decided to flee by car. Timbrell returned to the house to retrieve their cats Charlie and Lilly. He later saw his wife and seven others leave their vehicles and attempt to walk ahead of the advancing firewall, which he said moved at 20 kilometres per hour or faster.

Of six cars, four combusted immediately. Timbrell survived inside the last vehicle with one cat. Emergency workers rescued him after the flames passed. Authorities later found eight bodies on a path below the house and four more victims inside a right-hand-drive vehicle thought to be British.

Spanish authorities identified three Britons, one French national, one Belgian national and one Spanish national among the dead. A 93-year-old woman believed to be British died of injuries in hospital on Sunday. Not all victims have been identified.

Timbrell said local authorities lacked time to deploy seaplanes before dark and that helicopters could not fly due to smoke. He stated that police have kept him updated and that he awaits DNA results to confirm identities. "It's nobody's fault.

Nobody can be blamed for this," he said.