Briton tells of surviving Spain wildfire in car as wife and friends died trying to walk to safety

The British man, whose wife, 12 friends and neighbors were feared dead in the forest fires in Spain, explained how he was separated from them as the flames were advancing towards his home.

70-year-old Malcolm Timbrell and his wife, 69-year-old Annette Kilgore, lived in the village of Bédar in the province of Almeria, which was engulfed in flames last Thursday evening and 13 people lost their lives.

The devastated survivor spoke to the BBC outside her collapsed hillside home.

“You could never imagine this could happen,” he said. “And when it happens and you’re the only survivor, you wonder, ‘What can I do?’ You will be faced with the situation.”

He and Annette found their property when they appeared on Channel 4’s A Place in the Sun.

“He was a very happy, outgoing person,” Malcolm said of his partner of 17 years. “We had a wonderful life together and now it’s over.”

Thursday’s wildfire is among the deadliest in Spanish history. It quickly spread, tearing apart Bédar and causing Malcolm, Annette and their friends to have to quickly escape.

As the flames approached their property on Thursday, aided by strong winds, the couple and their neighbors decided to try to escape by car.