Hundreds gather to mourn dead after blaze at block of flats in Spain kills 10
Authorities in Valencia on Saturday announced that the death toll from a fire that ripped through a block of flats in the Spanish city days earlier had risen to 10, as hundreds gathered to mourn those killed.
The blaze, fanned by strong winds, broke out on Thursday evening in the affluent El Campanar district.
Police had revised the number of dead to nine from 10 on Friday while identifying bodies in the building, but confirmed that a 10th victim had been found on Saturday.
At noon on Saturday, hundreds gathered outside Valencia’s city hall for a moment of silence as flags flew at half mast.
The fire had spread rapidly through the 14-storey tower containing 138 flats.
Fifteen people, including a seven-year-old child and seven firefighters, were treated for injuries of varying degrees, but their lives were not in danger.
About 100 survivors spent Friday night in hotels. “It was just horrifying. I live in that neighbourhood and it was very close, I saw the whole thing from the street,” 60-yearold Concha Lopez said outside the city hall on Saturday, her voice breaking as she wiped away tears. “These people have lost everything.”
At the city’s San Miguel y San Sebastian church, Catholic priest Juan Andres Talens said people had been praying for those affected.
“We are mourning,” he said as a mass took place inside the historic church.
Faustino Yanguas of the Valencia fire brigade said the cladding material used on the facade of the building would have to be investigated.
It was “a factor that contributed a lot” to the rapid spread of the flames – as were the strong winds, with gusts of up to 60kph recorded at the time the blaze broke out, he said.
The fears that polyurethane cladding might have exacerbated the spread of the fire recalled the tragedy at London’s Grenfell Tower in 2017, when the 24-storey high-rise caught fire, killing 72 people.