The Civil Guard Criminalistics unit deployed to the Villafranca de Ebro residence (Zaragoza) to investigate the causes of the fire will continue working for several days. Although the most likely reason for the fire that killed ten people – in principle, all due to smoke inhalation – is a cigarette in a room, the investigations remain open.
This was confirmed this Saturday by sources from the Government Delegation in Aragon, who have indicated that at the moment there are no new developments in the investigations. The Civil Guard team, specialized in investigating infrastructure damage and fires, arrived at the Villafranca residence on Friday at mid-morning and their work was added to that carried out by the Judicial Police.
It was the president of the Aragonese Association for Dependency (ARADE), Paquita Morata, who pointed out as a probable cause of the fire that someone was smoking in the room where the fire originated, something that was not confirmed by the Armed Institute.
Previously, the president of the Government of Aragon, Jorge Azcón, appealed for caution until the causes that caused the fire are “absolutely confirmed.” “We are going to wait for the reports from the Civil Guard and, when we know them in detail, the families, the residence and all the media will be aware,” he stated.
According to the Center’s Internal Regime Regulations, consulted by Europa Press, it is established that you cannot smoke in the center’s facilities, except in areas specifically set up for it. This is stated in article 14 of the document: “Users who are smokers must refrain from smoking within the center facilities, according to Law 42/2010, of December 30, on health measures against smoking and regulating the sale, supply, consumption and advertising of tobacco products, except specifically designated areas.
Precedent in a residence in Cuarte de Huerva (Zaragoza)
It must be remembered that another nursing home, called Santa Fe, in Cuarte de Huerva (Zaragoza), was already the scene of a similar episode in 2015, when around midnight on July 11 a fire claimed the lives of eight people and It left 12 injured, two of them seriously, one of whom died a few days later.
For that event, a 62-year-old resident, Carmen Alejandre Soriano, was sentenced to 62 years in prison as the author of nine crimes of homicide, nine of injuries and one of arson. The sentence – with a jury – considered it proven that the woman set fire to the mattress in an unoccupied room, which caused the fire. The reason was a previous argument with his son, whom he demanded take him to another residence.
The ruling also pointed out a string of non-compliance by the residence’s managers. Thus, the center lacked a building permit and lacked “any minimum security.” In fact, the center should have been closed, despite which it did not hold the Government of Aragon criminally responsible.
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