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Several Killed In Fire At Spanish High-Rise

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

VALENCIA, SPAIN (Worthy News) – Firefighters struggled to contain a massive blaze that engulfed a high-rise residential block in the eastern Spanish city of Valencia on Thursday, killing at least four people and injuring more than a dozen, officials said.

“It can be confirmed that four people have died,” stressed Jorge Suarez Torres, deputy director of emergency services for the Valencia region. He said he could not yet say whether anyone was missing in the blaze.

Among at least 14 people injured were six firefighters and a young child, according to authorities, who added that the while continued well into Friday morning local time.

Soldiers from Spain’s Military Emergency Unit were also deployed, and medics set up a large tent to tend to the injured on the scene, Worthy News learned.

Witnesses said the blaze sent “clouds of black smoke billowing skyward” that could be seen from afar. Spain’s weather agency, Aemet, reported winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour (40 miles per hour) at the time, which likely caused the blaze to spread faster.

The fire began around 5:30 pm local time on the fourth floor and spread rapidly, witnesses and the emergency services said.

They spoke as images showed flames and vast clouds of black smoke engulfing the building in the Campanar neighborhood in western Valencia.

130 FLATS

Spain’s TVE public television said there were more than 130 flats in the 14-story building, which was rapidly “reduced to a skeleton,” with 22 teams of firefighters battling the blaze.

It was not immediately clear what caused the blaze, but there were already complaints about the apparent lack of adequate safety standards.

Speaking to regional television station A Punt, Esther Puchades, deputy head of Valencia’s Industrial Engineers Association (COGITI), said the fire had spread “so rapidly because the building was covered with highly flammable polyurethane cladding.”

Luis Ibanez, who lives in a nearby building, told TVE he had looked out of a window and saw the flames engulfing the block “within a matter of minutes,” it was “as if it was made of cork.”

“I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. The whole side of the building directly opposite was on fire, from the first floor to the sixth and seventh floor,” he recalled. “There was a really strong wind, and the fire was spreading to the left at a huge speed.”

One resident, Vicente, came home to find the building in flames, telling TVE he thought everyone had been safely evacuated. “I think they all got out,” he said.

But with fire rapidly spreading, his words appeared as wishful thinking.