SPAIN’S Guardia Civil law enforcement agency have come under fire after releasing a video that shows the remains of the victims of the deadly Almeria fire being transported to Madrid.

Footage shared on social media shows a helicopter landing in the Spanish capital, before the pilot hands a white box to an officer on the tarmac.

The camera tracks the officer as he walks away from the helicopter, before he passes the box to another man who then travels towards a building.

“Yesterday afternoon-evening, the biological samples arriving in Madrid, originating from Almeria, were transferred to the Biology Department of the Forensic Service of the General Directorate of the Guardia Civil, where they will undergo genetic analysis,” a caption for the post read.

READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: American national among those feared dead after Andalucia’s deadliest-ever wildfire kills at least 12 – with 23 still unaccounted for

The forensic work will prove crucial in helping investigators identify the victims, many of whose remains were severely scorched by the blaze.

But the decision to publish the footage has sparked a backlash on social media, with many questioning whether it was appropriate to film and share the transfer of human remains.

Several users said the video was ‘heartless’ and ‘disrespectful’, arguing it showed little regard for the grieving families awaiting news of their loved ones.

“Dear god, nobody needs to see this, take it down,” wrote one user on X, while another questioned: “Is it necessary to make a spectacle out of this misfortune?”

READ MORE: ‘We are surrounded by fire – I think we left too late’: The harrowing message from Andalucia’s deadliest wildfire as expats scramble to survive the horror

Another wrote: “I don’t understand the need to film it and release the footage […] seems heartless and disrespectful.”

At least 12 people have died and a further 23 are missing after the deadliest wildfire to hit Andalucia since records began.

The fast-moving inferno erupted on Thursday evening near Los Gallardos and quickly ripped through the mountains surrounding the popular expat village of Bedar in Almeria province.

“Everything indicates that the deceased are, mostly or entirely, foreign nationals,” said Antonio Sanz, Andalucia’s minister for health and emergencies.

Local officials say some of those who perished had sought “their own way out” through a dry riverbed instead of taking a recommended evacuation route.

That includes four victims, believed to be Brits, who were found deceased in a car with the steering wheel on the right-hand side.

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