British family evades Spanish wildfire after friends lost lives

Sun Sep 06 2026 06:08:47 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

A family from the UK escapes Bedar wildfire, only to find friends lost; tragedy grips holiday paradise.

A British couple, Riyaz Cheytan and partner Lucinda Curtois, fled Bedar after lethal wildfires cut off routes, escaping alive but learning that several close friends perished. Authorities verified twelve deaths in the village, including four tourists, with another twenty‑three missing. Curtois described the experience as terrifying and highlighted that friends left home on foot because roads were blocked. The incident underscores the lethal pace of wildfires in rural Spain. Further details are available in the full report.

British family evades Spanish wildfire after friends lost lives

A British couple, Riyaz Cheytan and partner Lucinda Curtois, were on holiday in Bedar when deadly wildfires erupted, forcing them to flee the village by foot.

The fire has claimed twelve lives in the small Spanish town, including four visitors, and left another twenty‑three missing, according to authorities.

The family reached safety only to learn that several close friends had perished; the loss was a stark reminder of the dangers the blaze posed to rural communities.

‘We weren’t expecting to hit a wall of fire,’ Curtois told reporters. ‘Some friends left their homes on foot because the road was cut off. It was terrifying.’