A British couple, Pete and Fran Gillam, have been named among the 13 people killed by wildfires in Spain, as authorities race to use DNA to identify victims who were unable to escape the blaze. The couple, who lived in the village of Bédar - which bore the brunt of the wildfires on Thursday - were confirmed dead by their family.

Their daughter Danielle Gillam-Kirton wrote on Facebook: “We are heartbroken to share that we have received confirmation from the police that Mum and Dad did not survive the fire. Thank you for all your love, support and prayers over the past few days. They have meant more to us than we can ever express.” The family had been searching for the couple since Thursday. Gillam-Kirton’s mother had texted her at about 7pm that evening to say they were evacuating, but the couple had not been heard from since. Messages and calls failed to reach either parent.

Relatives of those missing have been asked to provide DNA samples because many of the victims were so badly burned that they could not otherwise be recognised. Spanish authorities said on Monday that five British nationals were among the 13 people confirmed to have died. The victims also included three Belgians, one French woman and a Spanish man. The authorities have cautioned that the number of missing people remains uncertain until autopsies and the identification of bodies are completed. Officials coordinating the identification work said on Sunday that 10 formal missing-person reports had been submitted.

The fire ripped through the picturesque village, which is home to many Britons, and moved so quickly that some people were unable to escape. Burned-out cars litter the road leading out of Bédar and the authorities confirmed that some victims died in their vehicles as they tried to flee. One British man died in his car while trying to rescue his pets, according to a friend of his wife. Penelope Howe, 54, said her friend’s husband died when flames engulfed his car during the evacuation of the Los Gallardos area of Almería province. Howe, who lives near Bédar, said: “She’s in deep shock. At one point he needed to stop and she spoke to him on the phone. He had got the cats and was trapped in the car. They were speaking together for the last few minutes. That was how it ended.”

A relentless heatwave has scorched much of Europe, including Spain, and created the tinderbox conditions that made the wildfire so destructive. Dry vegetation and high temperatures have fuelled blazes across the Iberian peninsula and into France. Scientists say the fires have been worsened by the climate crisis, which has intensified the recent heatwaves. “Here climate change is having a very big impact, and we are in a state of climate chaos with situations that are practically unheard of, exceptional and increasingly explosive,” said the leader of Andalucía’s regional government, Juanma Moreno. A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “Our thoughts are with all those impacted by the devastating wildfires in Spain. We are supporting British nationals affected and their families and remain in close contact with the Spanish authorities.”