The burned residence in Madrid in which three women died had two emergency exits blocked and a fire hydrant unusable

Luis F. Durán Madrid

Madrid

Updated Tuesday, February 20, 2024-13:31

The Aravaca nursing home in Madrid, where three elderly women died last Sunday and 16 people suffered minor injuries, had two emergency exits blocked and a fire hydrant unusable, according to the first report prepared by the Municipal Police. The agents prepared a document that will be transferred to the court in which it was also indicated that the corridors were very narrow, the stairs very inclined and that there were not enough lights to be able to walk through the corridors in the event of a blackout or an emergency such as the suffered this past Sunday, according to Cadena Ser.

The Municipal Police document contrasts with what was explained yesterday by the Minister of Family, Youth and Social Affairs of the Community of Madrid, Ana Dávila, who pointed out that the residence had been inspected in April and August and complied with the service certificates. of fire fighting devices. However, the counselor said that she "is requiring additional documentation" to know "all the situations." "As I say, in the inspections that took place last August and last April, the certificates for the fire-fighting devices were correct," said the counselor.

Two women, aged 90 and 93, died in the fire, one of them with extensive burns and the other due to smoke inhalation, and later a third woman, aged 64, who was transferred to La Paz in critical condition, also with extensive burns. , as reported by the Municipal Emergency Assistance Service-Civil Protection (Samur-PC), died in the early hours of this Monday.

This Tuesday, the spokesperson for Más Madrid in the Assembly, Manuela Bergerot, said in statements to the media that they learned that in that residence there were "serious security failures that made emergency work difficult and aggravated the consequences of the accident."

According to Bergerot, "two emergency doors were blocked, the fire hydrant was occupied, there was no pressure because it was not connected to the network in an independent circuit, the emergency alarm did not work and there were no emergency lights in the building."

For this reason, the leader of Más Madrid has reported that she has requested Dávila's appearance as the authority responsible for reviewing the state of the residences, since she considers that she must give explanations and "apologize as soon as possible."