In Spain’s littoral community of Valencia, situated in the southeast, there was a deadly fire last Thursday, 22 February. Following the aftermath, the scientific police have been able to identify ten bodies amid the rubble and fifteen wounded.
The fire spread to a complex of 138 flats and fully burned two apartment buildings. The police have investigated the building where the fire originated and, as their main hypothesis, points to a short circuit in the electrical system of an awning.
Due to the intensity of the fire, firefighters struggled to get in and help and make up at least six of the injured. The gravity of the wounds hasn’t been determined, but they ranged from fractures to burns and smoke inhalation.
According to the Spanish media, the bodies have been found by drones, since the firemen could only work for the time being from outside the building. It is believed that the tenth body discovered over the weekend is to be the last one, as the numbers check out with the people missing.
The representative of the Spanish government in the region of Valencia, Pilar Bernabé says "We're not going to find more (bodies) but we're going to keep looking," she insisted while adding that the identification work "will be complex work in which they have to be identified with DNA tests, and we want them to be done with full guarantees".
The king and queen of Spain visited the affected area yesterday to listen to each of the survivors and to publicly thank the workers who have been on site since Thursday. Felipe VI and Queen Letizia greeted some 70 members of different emergency services, including provincial and municipal firefighters, Health Emergency Services, the Red Cross, the Military Emergency Unit (UME), the National Police, Local Police and Civil Protection.
The monarchs listened "case by case" to each of those affected by the fire, and asked them not to be forgotten. "Don't forget us" and "In a year's time we will still have this problem" were some of the reported most repeated messages at the meeting.
In the latest development, the judge allows the survivors entrance back to the buildings to gather any belongings that outlived the fire. The decision seems to have been taken following the National Police’s confirmation that the entrance would not affect the ongoing investigations, despite some firefighters advising against it for safety concerns.
The court will contact the relatives of the deceased so that they can collect the personal effects and will then authorize the delivery of the remains, once all the formalities have been completed.
We'll report more on this story as it unfolds.
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