A ‘HIGHLY flammable’ cladding has been blamed for a huge fire currently engulfing an apartment block in eastern Spain.
At least 14 people have been confirmed as injured since the blaze was first reported shortly after 7pm on Thursday evening.
Among the injured are nine men, six of them firemen, aged between 25 and 57, four women aged between 27 and 81 and a child less than seven years old.
The fire, described by authorities as Valencia’s ‘worst ever’, is believed to have begun in an apartment on the fifth floor of the building in the Nou Campanar neighbourhood, in the west of the city.
The barrio is described in local press as being ‘relatively new’, and is filled with shopping centres and green areas, including a Bioparc.
A Level 2 Emergency has been declared due to the ‘extensive damage’ and the ‘extraordinary’ resources and measures needed to tackle the situation.
Witnesses told the EFE news agency that the flames spread “very quickly” and caused a “a brutal cloud of smoke” that “practically turned day into night.”
Meanwhile, Esther Puchades, an engineering expert from a Valencia colllege said the intensity of the fire is due to the polyurethane coating on the facade of the building.
Social media users are already branding the disaster ‘Spain’s Grenfell’, referencing the tower block in east London which suffered a similar fate in 2017.
Residents who have been rescued from the building have been sent to various different hospitals in the region.
Firefighters and emergency services are continuing to put out the blaze, with more people feared trapped inside.
The flames have been aided by strong winds on Thursday, which have reached up to 50km/hr.
