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The residents should have left the building on time
Photo: Jose Jordan / AFP
At least 13 people, including six firefighters, were injured in the major fire in a high-rise apartment building in the Spanish coastal metropolis of Valencia.
This was announced by the emergency services on X.
Miraculously, there were no fatalities.
The building, which was only a few years old and had 138 apartments on 15 floors, was completely engulfed in flames in a very short time and at times resembled a huge torch.
According to the fire department, the fire broke out in an apartment on one of the lower floors and spread so quickly across the facade due to strong winds.
Two people who called for help from a balcony were able to be brought to safety at the last moment by the fire department using a turntable ladder with a rescue basket, as shown on TV images.
A resident of the house told the state TV broadcaster RTVE that apart from the two rescued people, all other residents were apparently able to leave the building in time.
According to this information, the authorities have built a field hospital near the major fire as a precautionary measure.
In addition, help was requested from soldiers from the military emergency aid unit UME to fight the flames, RTVE reported.
The UME is otherwise used in large forest fires.
16 fire engines in action
Social media showed how the facade of the house, which was completed in 2005, burned brightly from the ground floor to the flat roof.
An expert said on television that the facade consisted of aluminum panels with a layer of flame-retardant polyurethane rigid foam underneath.
It was initially unclear why the fire was able to spread so quickly across the facade.
On television you could see how burning parts of the facade sailed through the air and continued to burn on the ground around the building.
According to the rescue service, 16 fire engines were deployed to fight the fire.
There was a huge cloud of black smoke above the building.
kim/dpa