Spain in shock after huge fire destroys block of flats in Valencia
At least four people died in a major fire which destroyed a block of flats in the Spanish coastal city of Valencia, emergency services said on Friday.
It was "as if the building was made of cork, it suddenly went up in flames and was destroyed in no time," a resident from a neighbouring apartment complex told the state broadcaster RTVE.
With 15 people injured and up to 15 missing, the speed with which the fire spread from one flat to the roof of the complex has Spaniards in shock.
The fire broke out on Thursday in a flat on the fourth floor of the 15-storey building, which had only been completed a few years ago.
Two 16-year-old boys, Carlos and Dani, said they were "stunned" as they watched from a nearby park on Thursday afternoon and saw the fire spread towards the roof within minutes.
"It flickered along the metal panels of the facade or behind them, but always upwards," Carlos told the newspaper El País. The two also reported hearing people crying for help from their balconies.
When firefighters rescued two residents from a balcony surrounded by flames, the people in front of the building applauded and cheered.
The full extent of the destruction only became visible with daylight on Friday.
All that remained of the residential complex, were charred facades in front of a skeleton of concrete.
Experts explained on Spanish media that the blaze spread rapidly across the facade, made of flammable materials, partly due to strong winds.
"Valencia has never experienced such a tragedy," Valencia's mayor María José Catalá said. He has declared three days of mourning for the city.
Engineer David Higuera believes that the rapid spread of the fire can only be explained by flammable parts of the facade panelling. The huge black cloud of smoke above the building can hardly be explained in any other way he said. However, strong winds also fuelled the fire.
Fire protection expert Esther Puchadas, who certified the house in Valencia, said that the facade was insulated with polyurethane, which acted like a catalyst.
"The firefighters are not yet able to enter the building. That is why we are not changing the figure of four fatalities given yesterday for the time being," Catalá told journalists.
The firefighters and engineers still have to check whether the facility could collapse due to the extreme heat during the fire.
The disaster in Valencia brings back dark memories of the Grenfell fire disaster in London in June 2017, when 72 people died in a tower block fire in West London's Kensington.
The fire broke out on one of the lower floors and also spread rapidly through the insulation of the social housing block's façade.
The fire brigade initially advised people to stay in the burning building and wait for help. For many, their flats became a death trap.
