On Saturday, the body of the last missing person was found in the burned building. On Thursday, a fire quickly consumed the 138-apartment complex.
Two days after a massive fire broke out in a residential complex in the Spanish Mediterranean metropolis of Valencia, the body of the last missing person was found in the burned building on Saturday. This brought the death toll from Thursday's fire to ten. The announcement was made by the representative of the central government in the autonomous community of Valencia, Pilar Bernabé.
Another 15 people were injured, most of whom had already managed to leave the hospital. Bernabé stressed that there are currently no other people missing.
The modern residential complex contained 138 apartments with around 450 residents, state TV broadcaster RTVE reported. The newspaper “La Vanguardia” published the number of 143 residential units. The fire started late on Thursday afternoon, around 5pm, and in a very short time consumed the entire residential complex, which consisted of two wings of different heights.
Flammable parts of facade insulation caused rapid spread
The reason why the flames spread surprisingly quickly, even for many experts, was probably flammable parts of the facade insulation, as Spanish media reported. Strong winds also fueled the flames.
Spanish media indicated that the fire started during the day. If people had been surprised while sleeping at night, the tragedy could have been much greater. Additionally, a caretaker noticed the fire early and ran from door to door to warn residents.
The court opened an investigation into the cause of the fire. The question of the role played by the facade cladding is probably of crucial importance. (APA/dpa)