Major fire in Valencia
High-rise resembles a torch of fire – misfortune brings back dark memories
Watch the video: Major fire in Valencia – high-rise building resembles a torch of fire.
Video source: RTL
A high-rise apartment building was largely destroyed in a major fire in the Spanish coastal metropolis of Valencia. According to authorities, at least four people died.
According to authorities, at least four people died in the major fire in a high-rise complex with dozens of apartments in the Spanish coastal metropolis of Valencia. The regional newspaper “Levante” also reported that 20 people were missing. This figure was not confirmed by the regional government’s deputy emergency director, Jorge Suarez, on Friday night. Firefighters cannot yet enter the building for safety reasons, he emphasized. Before that, the largely burned-out structure had to be further cooled from the outside. A total of 14 people, including six firefighters, were taken to hospitals with burns or smoke inhalation.
Valencia: Consternation after fire disaster
The fire disaster caused consternation across the country. TV stations reported live in special programs and the government promised the victims quick help. The cause of the fire, which started late Thursday afternoon, remained unclear Friday morning.
The high-rise complex with several blocks and 138 apartments on up to 15 floors, which was only completed a few years ago, was completely engulfed in flames in a very short time. At times it resembled a huge torch with a huge black cloud of smoke above it. The fire broke out in an apartment on one of the lower floors and spread rapidly across the facade made of flammable materials, partly due to strong winds, experts explained in Spanish media. Residents reported that there was a strong smell of burnt rubber in the area.
On television you could see how the facade of the building burned brightly from the ground floor to the flat roof. An expert said on television that the facade consisted of aluminum panels with a layer of insulation underneath. Burning parts of the facade broke away from the building and fell into the depths, where they continued to burn on the ground.
Memories of the fire disaster in London
The accident in Valencia brings back dark memories of the Grenfell fire disaster in London in June 2017. 72 people died in the high-rise fire in the Kensington district. The fire broke out on one of the lower floors and also spread rapidly through the facade insulation of the social building. The fire department initially advised people to stay in the burning building and wait for help. For many, their homes became a death trap.
Two people who called for help from a balcony during the fire in Valencia were just able to be brought to safety by the fire department using a turntable ladder with a rescue basket, as could be seen in television images. The apartments around them were already ablaze and the fire department had to cool the part of the building with extinguishing water. Residents who had fled the house applauded the rescue operation.
As a precaution, the authorities had a field hospital set up near the scene of the accident. In addition, soldiers from the military emergency aid unit UME were called in to fight the flames, as the state TV broadcaster RTVE reported. The UME is otherwise used in large forest fires.
Video source: RTL