Valencia fire: Tourists, along with 14 other individuals, are missing and believed to have died in the Valencia apartment building fire. Additionally, four victims are confirmed dead in a similar disaster to the Grenfell Tower fire.
Valencia’s mayoress Maria Jose Catala said on those still missing after the devastating blaze: ‘We have this information from relatives who are contacting us and saying they can’t locate their loved ones.
‘We know there are foreigners and the information we have is likely to change during the day.’ Officials haven’t yet disclosed the nationalities of those feared dead.
Asked if the foreigners staying there could have been renting holiday let-style apartments for just a few days, the mayoress replied: ‘It’s possible.’
Firefighters expect to find 14 more bodies when they today enter a Spanish apartment block gutted by fire in a Grenfell Tower-like disaster, with officials admitting that nobody trapped inside is thought to be alive.
Firefighters discovered the bodies of four people who passed away on the terraces using a drone last night. The identities of the deceased individuals are unknown, and they are still inside the building, which houses 138 flats and over 400 residents.
Crews have been unable to enter the twin multi-storey towers that form part of the building since the devastating blaze broke out just before 5.30pm yesterday and tore through inflammable cladding blamed along with high winds for its rapid spread.
Firefighters have admitted they do not expect to find anyone trapped by the flames inside the building alive, raising fears the final death toll could be over 18.
Mayoress Jose Catala said: ‘At the moment we know there are 14 people who are unaccounted for but we know that process is variable and there are people who are foreigners who were spending a few days in Valencia and that can make things more complicated.
‘Until we can enter the building, we won’t know the true situation.’
She added: ‘Yesterday the information police were working on is that there were 19 people unaccounted for and this morning that figure is 14. Firefighters still don’t know when they will be able to enter the building.’
Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez is travelling to the scene and is expected to arrive around midday.
Authorities have verified that all 14 individuals, including six firefighters, are expected to recover, and none of them have life-threatening conditions. It’s believed that only six individuals are still in the hospital.
The injured people included nine men aged 25 and 57, four women aged between 27 and 81, and a seven-year-old boy.
The death toll is expected to rise rapidly once firefighters have cooled down the outside of the building and can safely go inside once the risk of a structural collapse has been ruled out.
The city of 800,000 on the east coast of Spain came to a standstill last night, as sires blared through the streets.
As the sun rose over the coastal city and crews prepared to go in, more details began to emerge this morning of the miracle rescue of a couple trapped on the seventh-floor in images that went around the world.
With flames closing in, the man and woman were trapped on their balcony for almost two hours before being plucked to safety by firefighters in cherry pickers.
They covered their faces with scarves and woolly hats to protect themselves from the flames, smoke and intense heat.
At one time, they were recorded attempting to jump over a wall that divided their balcony from their neighbor’s terrace. However, firefighters stopped them from doing so. The firefighters were concentrating on spraying water on the outside of their apartment to keep the fire away and make it easier to reach them.
The couple were heard shouting for help as their rescuers tried to calm them down and darkness descended on the area.
They were rescued around 8 pm, and people watching were relieved to see them brought down safely, fearing a tragic result. After the rescue, they got immediate medical care, but it seems they didn’t have to go to the hospital. We don’t know where they are this morning. Other survivors are staying in hotels or with relatives and friends.
Other dramatic footage shows a man jumping several floors onto an inflatable mat to escape the raging fire, while other homeowners were seen awaiting rescue on their terraces as the flames closed in around them.
The blaze, Valencia’s worst-ever fire, is thought to have started on an eighth-floor.
Once firefighters and police can enter the building, they will start investigating the cause. However, there is already speculation that a potential electrical fault may be to blame. Survivors who escaped the fire reported that within 30 minutes of the first flames being spotted, the fire had spread throughout both residential towers that were affected.
