A fire in the battery of a mobile phone is the main hypothesis that investigators are considering as the main cause of the fire at the Juan XXIII nursing home, arranged with the Community of Madrid, with capacity for 40 residents, reports Telemadrid. It is located on Proción Street, number 10, in the Moncloa-Aravaca district.
The fire killed two 80-year-old women and injured 17 other residents. The rest of the elderly had to be transferred to other centers or to family homes.
Apparently, a cell phone battery exploded in the room where the two deceased were sleeping. She jumped onto a mattress and from there the flames spread.
According to the data provided by the Ministry of Social Affairs, the residence has 40 places, of which 36 are arranged. At the time the fire occurred, there were 38 elderly people admitted.
The incident caused another sixteen people to have to be taken to hospitals, slightly affected by smoke inhalation.
The Emergency 112 service received the notice of the fire shortly before 7:00 a.m. on Sunday and the Municipal Police, City Hall Firefighters, the National Police, the Municipal Emergency Assistance Service-Civil Protection (Samur) went to the scene of the event. -PC), Red Cross and the Madrid Medical Emergency Service (SUMMA 112).
The director of the Madrid City Council’s Fire Department, Roberto Moreira, explained that upon the arrival of the three crews at the scene, the Municipal Police with six patrols were already assisting the occupants of the residence.
According to the firefighter, “the fire was extinguished quickly” and the causes of the fire will be the subject of investigation by the National Police.
Moreira also highlighted that the eviction of the residence was “complicated”, since the smoke spread from the origin of the fire, located in a room on the first floor, to the second, from where the other residents had to be rescued.
On the other hand, Samur’s guard supervisor, Isabel Casado, stressed that one of the deceased women had extensive burns, as did the woman who was transferred in critical condition to a hospital.
Casado pointed out that the Emergency teams performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the bodies of the seriously injured people until, in the case of two of them, the maneuvers were abandoned when their death was confirmed.
And he also explained that the people evacuated to hospitals “for observation” suffered minor injuries from smoke inhalation, and that the rest of the residents have been picked up by their families or transferred to offices of the Community of Madrid.
According to sources from the Ministry of Health, of the 38 people who resided in the center, in addition to those who died, there is one resident in serious condition admitted to the La Paz Hospital.
Of the rest of the residents, five people have been transferred with their families and another fifteen are in the Reina Sofía residence, in Las Rozas.
Four residents who were at the Jiménez Díaz Foundation will also be sent to this center when they are discharged.
The other eleven people are under observation in different hospitals and those who cannot be cared for by their families will be transferred to the same Las Rozas residence and to the Nuestra Señora del Carmen public residence, in Madrid, when they are discharged.
Shortly after the event, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and other Madrid politicians showed their discomfort at what happened and expressed their support for the family members.
“We deeply regret the death of two women at the Juan XXIII Residence in Aravaca due to a fire. Our support to those around the deceased, the injured and the center’s workers. We are at your disposal for everything you need,” he wrote Help on your X account.
The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, who had planned to attend the first mass shooting in the capital at 1:00 p.m., announced shortly before that he would not attend, as a sign of mourning for the tragedy in the residence.
In a statement made at Madrid City Hall, in Cibeles, together with the mayor of Valencia, María José Catalá, Almeida observed a minute of silence for the deaths in the residence and announced that he will not be at the firing of the pyrotechnics because ” Madrid has a day of mourning today and it is up to the authorities to also accompany the families in their feelings.”
The leader of the Madrid socialists, Juan Lobato, also expressed his condolences in improve evacuation, protection and fire prevention plans in residences”.
Condolences have been added by the Vox spokesperson in the Madrid Assembly, Rocío Monasterio, who has regretted what happened: “Much encouragement to the families of the deceased and the injured.”
And the leader of Más Madrid in the regional Parliament, Manuela Bergerot, has also expressed on the social network
