Firefighters and scientific police have now been able to access the damaged building to try to locate 14 people who could have been victims of a fire that, so far, has caused 4 deaths – a couple and their two young children – and dozens of injured, as reported by the Government Delegate, Pilar Bernabé, with data from the National Police. The figure, however, “may vary in the following hours,” she added. The work is being carried out on the completely burned-out building and in which professionals are checking the state of the structure to be able to enter without risk and verify if there are more bodies.
The Valencia City Council has enabled the Valencia Palace hotel and the municipal tobacco building to provide emergency assistance to the more than 400 residents, with the assistance of psychologists. The mayor of València, María José Català, has reported that all the resources have been made available for families to be able to be assisted with everything they need. Likewise, the president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón, has reported that three days of mourning have been decreed throughout the Valencian Community. It is likely that it will take “days” to safely enter the building that burned tonight.
A team of psychologists works to support the families, in a context of enormous uncertainty as the identity of the four deceased and the 14 unlocated individuals, among whom are foreigners, is not known, which makes the investigation difficult, as noted by the Government delegate, Pilar Bernabé. President Pedro Sánchez traveled to Valencia this morning, where he joined the authorities present at the command center to show the support of the Government and the solidarity of the entire country.
Firefighters check the structure of the building to check if it is possible to enter safely. Meanwhile, all official activities have been suspended in Valencia, which this weekend had planned the first events related to the nearby Fallas, such as the Crida and the Gala Fallera.
Emergency medical services have assisted fifteen people (7 of them firefighters) since the fire started. Of them, twelve were transferred to hospital centers in Valencia (La Fe, General, Doctor Peset and 9 de Octubre) and the other 3 were discharged “in situ”. At this time, 6 people remain hospitalized.
Mayor Catalá explained that work is being done not only to offer accommodation and care for families in these first days, but also to give them a solution in the coming months, “because they have lost everything, their memories, their documentation… everything.” . She has learned, for example, that two Ukrainian couples who fled the war are among the people staying at the Valencia Palace and have lost all their belongings.
Catalá has thanked the Valencian population for the solidarity shown from the first moment with those affected, as well as the numerous companies that have approached the City Council to offer their collaboration.
The Scientific Police are prepared to enter as soon as possible; they will be in charge of identifying the bodies found and analyzing the reasons that caused the fire. Firefighters and members of the Military Emergency Unit will be in charge of searching for the victims who were trapped in the incident.
The city councils of numerous municipalities in the Community, such as those of Alicante, Benidorm, have also decreed three days of mourning. The Spanish Football Federation has postponed the Granada-Valencia and Levante-Andorra matches that were to be played this weekend, in response to the request of the Valencian clubs.
