SPAIN’S Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is travelling to Valencia to see for himself the devastation caused by the apartment complex fire in the Campanar district of the city.
Reports suggest that he is expected to arrive at around midday.
The number of missing people has been revised down from the initial suggestion of ’19 or more’ to a figure of ‘between nine and 15’, according to Valencia mayor, Maria Jose Catala- speaking shortly before 9.00 am.
Four people have been confirmed as dead after the fire ravaged through the apartment complex.
Emergency services have treated 15 victims- seven of whom are firefighters.
Nine of those treated were taken to hospital but none of them is said to be in a critical condition.
“Valencia is going through a very sad time,” said Maria Jose Catala, who also thanked the firefighters for their efforts and the solidarity provided by city residents who have offered to help those people displaced from their homes.
The Valencia region’s deputy director- general for Emergencies, Jorge Suarez, said that the inside of the building is still extremely hot due to the intensity of the fire, and that fire crews are trying to cool it down before that can go inside.
Within half an hour in the late afternoon, flames spread to the entire building which was built in 2008 and had 138 homes accommodating around 450 people.
The fire swept across the facade and some parts of the structure fell off and was thrown several metres away.
According to experts, highly flammable cladding on the building allowed the fire to spread rapidly.
Esther Puchades, vice president of the College of Industrial Technical Engineers of Valencia, said that she had previously inspected the building.
According to Puchades, the building’s exterior had a polyurethane material that is no longer in wide use due to fears over flammability.
“The reason it burned so fast is because of this type of cladding,” she stated.
The harshness of the blaze hindered rescue efforts with one of the firefighters having to throw himself from the seventh floor onto a mat because of the fire’s intensity.
Others made it as far as the 12th floor and were able to evacuate residents.
Everybody who requested temporary accommodation- 38 people- have been located at the Valencia Palace Hotel.
Three days of official mourning has been declared across the whole of the Valencian Community by regional president, Carlos Mazon.
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