Fire in a building in Spain leaves at least four dead: shocking images

A raging fire devoured a 14-story residential building in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia on Thursday, causing at least four deaths and 14 injuries.according to emergency services.

Of the fourteen injured, at least six were firefighters, and two were discharged at the scene, but twelve “have been transferred to different hospital centers,” reported the Valencian regional emergency service 112.
The severity of the injuries was not determined, but the first report, of seven, spoke of some burns on the hands and smoke inhalation.

The incident occurred on the fourth floor of this building in the Campanar neighborhood, with two adjacent blocks and 138 apartments, built just over a decade ago, and spread at an incredible speed along the façade, according to witnesses interviewed by the media. Spanish people.

In statements to the Valencian regional television A Punt, the vice president of the College of Industrial Technical Engineers of Valencia, Esther Puchades, He attributed the voracity of the fire to a polyurethane coating on the façade, a highly flammable material.

In June 2017, 72 people died in the fire at the Grenfell building in London, precisely due to a similar and highly flammable cladding on the façade.

Vicente, a tenant of the building who returned from playing sports and found it on fire, told TVE that he believed that all the neighbors had been able to get out.

“Yes, I think they have all left,” he responded to TVE. In a video on social networks, reproduced by the media, firefighters could be seen rescuing a father and his daughter from a balcony where they had been trapped.

The regional emergency service 112 detailed that There were 22 fire crews at the scene, 8 medical units, including a vehicle to treat multiple victims, and announced the activation of “situation 2” of emergencies, which is established in cases of “extensive damage.”

The Military Emergency Unit also went to the scene to help with the extinguishing tasks, which seemed very advanced into the night.

112 explained that the fire originated on the fourth floor and spread to others.

“We kindly ask residents of other areas of the city not to approach the vicinity of the fire to facilitate the work of the mobilized emergency teams.”the mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, wrote on the social network

“Dismayed by the terrible fire in a building in Valencia”wrote the president of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, in X.

Sánchez said he spoke with local authorities to “learn first-hand about the situation and offer all the help that is necessary.”

“I want to convey my solidarity to all the people affected”he added.

The strong wind that affected Valencia made extinction tasks difficult.

A woman who owns a flower shop near the burned building explained to TVE that “there are people injured,” and that “what has mostly spread everything has been the wind.”

The woman described scenes of “chaos,” with “traffic, police, smoke.”

Another resident of the area explained that the construction burned at an incredible speed: “It was as if the building were made of cork”he described.

In October 2023, a fire in some nightclubs in the neighboring region of Murcia left thirteen people dead, in an accident for which six people are charged.