At least four people have have been killed and a further 20 are missing, feared dead, in a tower block inferno in Spain, despite the heroic efforts of firefighters who braved the raging fire.
Witnesses described how the fire, which began on the seventh floor of the 14-storey building, spread ‘in a matter of minutes’ – rapidly moving through the main tower and then into an adjoining building.
The apartment block, in the Campanar area of Valencia, was covered with highly-flammable polyurethane cladding, which experts have blamed for its rapid destruction.
The material is legal but no longer widely used after it was linked to the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire, with an inquiry into the disaster being told that polyurethane and other combustible materials had been used in the building.
If cladding is to blame in this case, it could be the first fire of its kind in Spain, according to an engineer who previously surveyed the building.
Dramatic video shows the moment residents trapped in the Valencia tower block were rescued from their balcony as flames closed in around them, reducing the building to a ‘skeleton’.
Firefighters are saying they do not expect any of the missing to be alive.
Town hall officials had earlier said 19 people were unaccounted for but the number later rose to 20.
The official death toll is not expected to rise until later today when fire crews and other emergency responders are able to access the inside of the apartment block.
Jorge Suarez, sub-director of emergencies for the regional Valencian government, said earlier this evening 14 people including at least six firefighters had been injured in the blaze.
Confirming fears there would be fatalities, he said on Thursday night: ‘We have to confirm the worst of the hypotheses that were on the table.
‘Four people have died. We can now confirm that but we can’t give out any more information at the moment.
‘Firefighters are still working exclusively outside the building on tasks related to extinguishing the blaze.
‘The characteristics of the building make it impossible to carry out any such work inside the structure so the work being done at the moment is focused on cooling down the outside and that’s going to be the focus over the next few hours.
‘I can’t say at the moment when they’re going to be able to go inside the building.’
Confirming earlier reports firefighters had sighted four bodies after they put up a drone, he added: ‘The information on the four fatalities is based on visual information we have.’
Town hall chiefs in Valencia separately confirmed 19 people thought to have been in the apartment block when the blaze started remained unaccounted for.
The 14 people injured are nine men aged between 25 and 57, four women aged between 27 and 81, and a seven-year-old boy.
Twelve of them are understood to remain in hospital.
The apartment block housing 137 flats caught fire around 5.30pm this afternoon.
The blaze is believed to have started on the seventh floor and spread rapidly, trapping some of the 350 residents registered as living in the residential complex in their homes.