Spain's Grenfell: Four dead and 19 missing after cladding blaze ripped through flats in Valencia
23 February 2024, 05:41 | Updated: 23 February 2024, 09:21
Four people have died and dozens are missing after a fire tore through an apartment block in Spain.
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Firefighters rushed to the scene of the fire in Valencia, Spain's third-largest city, after a fire broke out in a 14-storey apartment block in the Campanar neighbourhood, on the edge of the city centre.
Terrified residents could be seen trapped on their balconies waited to be rescued by the authorities. Firefighters were able to lift two residents from one of the balconies using a crane.
But several more did not survive. A local official confirmed the death toll, saying: "The worst hypothesis is confirmed: four people dead".
The remaining 19 missing people may all have died too, but authorities will not be able to confirm this until later on Friday, when firefighters are able to get inside the buildings.
Some 14 people were injured - six of them firefighters - most with fractures, burns and smoke inhalation. Twelve of them were treated in hospital overnight.
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The blaze began at around 5.30pm in one apartment block, before spreading to the adjacent building, according to the state news agency Efe.
The cause of the fire was unclear, but it may have spread quickly because of building materials used in the block, local outlets reported.
The original apartment block has been 'reduced to a skeleton', according to Spanish media.
Soldiers from Spain's military emergency unit worked alongside firefighters and paramedics set up a large tent to treat injured people at the scene.
Some 350 people were thought to be in the two buildings. While others waited to be rescued, one video captures the scene of a man jumping multiple storeys onto an inflatable mat.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez posted on X saying he was "shocked by the terrible fire in a building in Valencia" adding that he had offered the city "all the help that is necessary".
"I want to convey my solidarity to all the people affected and recognition to all the emergency personnel already deployed at the scene," Mr Sanchez said.
