Firefighters in Valencia fought against high gusts of wind to put out a terrible fire in a four-story apartment complex.
Emergency officials reported that twelve of the fourteen injured, including a seven-year-old, were admitted to the hospital.
Seven minor injuries were recorded by EMS, the majority of which were brought on by smoke inhalation.
An unidentified town council officer is quoted in an AFP report that lists 19 people as missing.
According to Jorge Suarez Torres, deputy director of emergency services in Valencia, “it can be confirmed that four people have died.”
Massive flames and black smoke shot from a building in Valencia’s western Campanar neighborhood. When a nearby structure caught fire and completely burned down, twenty-two fire agencies received a notification.
The building, which TVE reports has been “reduced to a skeleton,” comprises 130 residential units distributed over 14 levels.
The fire broke out on the fourth floor at about 5:30 p.m., according to witnesses and rescuers, and it quickly spread. Images were projected next to the burning, black smoke-filled building.
Esther Puchades, Valencia’s deputy leader of the Industrial Engineers Union, told A Punt that the fire quickly spread because of the polyurethane veneer on the building.
Seventy-two individuals lost their lives in a 24-story fire at Grenfell Tower in west London in June 2017. The building’s combustible exterior contributed to the fire’s rapid spread. Public investigations are now underway.
According to Luis Ibáñez, the neighbor, who saw the block burn “in a matter of minutes” and seem “like it was made of cork” from his window, told TVE.
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“What I witnessed was amazing,” he remarked. The building opposite us had fires coming from the first, second, and third stories.
“The fire was spreading to the left at a tremendous speed, and there was an extremely strong wind.”
TVE reported that, despite his assumption that everyone had fled, renter Vicente returned to find the building already on fire. “I think everyone was successful,” he said.
According to Spanish media, a father and a child were reportedly saved after being removed from a balcony.
To aid in emergency response, Valencia Mayor María José Catalá asked X residents to stay away from the fire area.
The fourteen-year-old building’s nearly one hundred apartments were visible to the owner of a nearby flower shop when she watched it on public television.
The fire was spewing smoke, and she let out a “chaos” alert, which halted all traffic. “The wind played a major role in the fire spreading,” she stated.
Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister of Spain, stated that he had called the mayor and leader “to offer whatever help was needed” after being “shocked by the terrible fire.” He had a great deal of empathy for the fire victims.
The Murcia club fire in October claimed the lives of thirteen people, making it the deadliest club disaster to hit Spain in thirty years.
There are six people in custody for manslaughter. They may spend nine years in prison if their negligence results in deaths.
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