Emergency services found four bodies in the two residential buildings hit this Thursday (22) by a fire in Valencia, Spain, while searching for 19 missing people.
The city's deputy general director of emergencies, Jorge Suárez, announced the discovery of the four bodies when speaking to the press at the command post near the buildings that are still burning.
Firefighters working at the site are searching for another 19 people who are still missing and whose relatives have not been able to locate them since the fire started, city hall confirmed.
Rescue teams had to rescue residents affected by the fire from their balconies, which started on the fifth floor of a 14-story residential building and spread to an annex.
Relatives have already been informed about this latest information, according to Suárez, who, when asked if the building could collapse, responded that the main criterion at the moment is to guarantee safety, although he admitted that the fire has been burning for many hours and the very high temperatures.
He also highlighted that it is not yet known when it will be possible to access the interior and that the teams are working with the relatives of a person, a resident of one of the buildings, who is missing.
The mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, expressed solidarity with the families of the victims and announced that, this Friday (23), the City Council of Spokespersons will declare several days of official mourning. “Firefighters are doing everything they can,” Catalá said.
As for people injured in the fire, the total number remains at 14, of which six are firefighters and the rest civilians, and are being treated at various hospitals in the city, according to authorities.
Emergency medical services treated nine men aged 25 to 57, four women aged 27 to 81 and a seven-year-old child. With the exception of two women who were discharged, the rest were transferred to different hospitals in Valencia, according to the same sources.
The injured adults are hospitalized in La Fe, at the General Hospital and Doctor Peset Hospital, and the child was transferred by his relatives to the 9 de Outubro Hospital.
Although the causes of the fire are not yet known, witnesses told EFE that the flames spread “very quickly” in a short space of time and formed “a brutal cloud of smoke.”
The vice-president of the College of Industrial Engineers of Valencia, Esther Puchades, who inspected the building, attributed the voracity of the fire to the polyurethane coating on the facade.
Spanish President Pedro Sánchez expressed his dismay at the devastating fire and offered “all necessary help.”
On his account on the social network X, Sánchez said he spoke with local authorities to gain first-hand knowledge of the situation and offer help. “I would like to express my solidarity with all the people affected and my thanks to all the emergency personnel already mobilized on site”, wrote the government official.
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