At least 13 injured: high-rise buildings in Spain catch fire

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A high-rise residential building in Valencia, Spain, went up in flames on Thursday evening after a fire broke out. The facade is completely on fire from the ground floor to the flat roof. The anxious question is: are people trapped in the fourteen-story building? It has 138 apartments.

The fire, which is still ongoing, took place in the Campanar neighborhood and also spread to an adjacent building. More than twenty firefighters are battling the fire. People were urged to stay away from the area.

Local media report that people may be trapped in the building. At least seven residents were taken to hospitals with injuries, and six firefighters were also injured while extinguishing the blaze. Initially there were no reports of fatalities.

Firefighters rescue people and extinguish fires

A man living on the second floor of the flat told ‘La Sexta’ that the flames grew rapidly after the fire broke out. “The fire spread within 10 minutes,” he said, adding that the material on the building’s facade may have contributed to the fire’s spread. Burning parts of the facade repeatedly fell into the depths. The material used must be polyurethane. Polyurethane is extremely flammable. According to emergency services, the fire broke out in an apartment on the fourth floor.

A woman told TVE she saw firefighters trying to rescue a teenager trapped on the first floor of the building. A video shows how people try to save themselves via the balconies. ‘Cadena Ser’ reported on the difficult rescue of a father and his son on the seventh floor of the house.

The fire brigade was informed of the fire around 5:30 pm local time. A field hospital was set up for possible injuries. The plunge caused by the fire could be seen across much of the city.

Soldiers from the military emergency response unit UME, which is mainly deployed in forest fires, were asked to help fight the flames. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his dismay over “the terrible fire” on X. He expressed his solidarity with all the people affected.

Source: Blick