British families demand answers after Spain wildfire deaths

Fifteen dead in Bédar fire

Nine British nationals were among fifteen people killed when fire ripped through the hillside village of Bédar in Almería, south-eastern Spain, on nine July.

No emergency alert sent

Families criticised authorities for not sending an emergency alert to mobile phones as flames closed in. Duncan Chard lost his father Michael and his partner Christine.

Chard blames official failures

Duncan Chard says his father Michael would still be alive if an evacuation warning had come through in time. He blames failures by officials on the day.

“If that evacuation warning had come through in time, my father would still be alive”

Politicians block inquiry

The People's Party and Vox in the Andalusian parliament rejected a request for a commission of inquiry made by the opposition Socialist party. They argued an ongoing criminal investigation would provide answers.

Families demand transparency

Families of those killed say there must be a public and transparent probe. Duncan Chard called the decision outrageous and an injustice.

“It's just outrageous. It's an injustice. As family members, we're absolutely disgusted. This is an insult”

Why no alert was sent

Andalusia's emergencies chief Antonio Sanz said the region decided not to use the emergency alert system because it could not be tailored to specific communities. Officials said an alert could cause panic and traffic jams.

Families reject the explanation

Duncan Chard rejected the official reasoning. He said authorities should have issued alerts, rung bells, sent police with horns, and gone door to door.

“Issue the damned alert! Ring the bells, send the police guy out with his horn, go door to door, do everything”

Victim received no warning

Thomas-Wolf Verdonckt, a Belgian virologist, was on the phone to his father Stanislas, sixty-three, as flames approached. He says victims never received advice on what to do or warnings they were in danger.

Only contact was sirens

Verdonckt says the only contact the government made with victims was minutes before flames engulfed everyone. One police car drove by with sirens on but there was no talking or messaging.

“The only contact that the government managed to make with the victims was a couple of minutes before the flames engulfed everyone. One police car drove by with the sirens on. There was no talking, there was no messaging”

Danni's parents died waiting

Danni Gillam-Kirton, an assistant headteacher from Nottinghamshire, lost her parents Pete and Fran. Her mother texted at about nineteen hundred to say they had packed and were waiting for instructions that never came.

Bones found in burnt car

In August, a month after the fire, Gillam-Kirton found what appeared to be human bones in the burnt-out car where her father died. Police had earlier said no personal belongings had survived.

“I picked up what I recognised to be... part of a pelvis or a hip joint”

Police said bones were animal

Fragments were sent to Madrid for testing. Police told the family no DNA was recovered and the bones were those of an animal. But Gillam-Kirton says experts including a forensic anthropologist believe they were human.

Criminal case blocks disclosure

The BBC saw a letter in which the Andalusian government refused to release official reports on the fire.

Families raising money for lawyers

Families in the UK, Belgium and Spain have set up support groups and a website called helpbedar.com.

Families want answers and change

Gillam-Kirton says all families want is answers and for lessons to be learned so others do not suffer the same ordeal. She says their fight is a tribute to their loved ones who died.

“I feel like this is all I can do for them”