Valencia Fire: Nine Bodies Found as Spanish Police Search Gutted Flats
Firefighters and forensic authorities in Spain say nine bodies have been recovered from the ruins of a 14-floor apartment complex after fire tore through it in Valencia. The cladding attached to the outside of the building as well as high winds are being blamed for the flames taking hold of the building in a matter of minutes. Officials have refused to answer questions on the cause of the fire. Three days of mourning will be observed.
Cause of the Fire
The fire is thought to have taken hold on the fourth floor of the larger of the two 14-storey blocks, engulfing it in minutes and then spreading to the adjacent one.
Firefighters were unable to reach higher than the 12th floor as the flames burned at a terrifying pace through a layer of cladding, attached to the building under a very thin layer of aluminium.
The College of Industrial Technical Engineers of Valencia said that was one of the possible causes of the fire, coupled with the strong winds and high temperatures in Valencia on Thursday evening.
Cladding Regulations
There was no programme to strip the banned cladding away, which was what happened in the UK following the Grenfell Tower fire in 2017, where the process continues.
Although the aluminium-covered panels were not considered combustible, that type of cladding was allowed under building regulations at the time of the building, which was finished in 2008, but has since been banned.
Heroic Acts and Government Response
As the scale of the tragedy was confirmed, stories emerged of individual heroism as the fire tore through the facade of the building leaving residents trapped.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez visited the site of the gutted blocks of flats promising aid to local authorities in their response to the tragedy. Science Minister Diana Morant added, "We are here for whatever is needed."
The head of the Valencia regional government Carlos Mazón said he was working with the city authority to provide housing and basic needs to those whose homes have been destroyed.
