RESIDENTS of a fourteen-storey building were left trapped on their balconies as flames ravaged their home from the inside out.
Horrifying footage showed people shouting for help as flames and smoke billowed around them.
APFirefighters rescue two people who were trapped on a balcony[/caption]
APFlames engulfed the 15-storey building in Valencia on Thursday evening[/caption]
APFirefighters spray water on the housing block as it burns[/caption]
Seven people including three firefighters and a minor have been hospitalised.
The raging inferno is understood to have started after 5.30pm local time on Thursday, inside a building located at a roundabout between Maestro Rodrigo and General Avilés avenues in Valencia, Spain.
A tenant told local media that the fire stared in one of the units and spread throughout the building.
Video filmed from the ground showed residents standing helpless on their balconies as fire raged on the floors above and below them.
The top of the building appeared to be crumbling as bright orange flames engulfed dozens of residences.
In one clip, an emergency responder standing at the top of a tower crane looked to be reaching for someone who was trapped.
Prime Minister of Spain Pedro Sánchez said on Thursday evening that he was “dismayed by the terrible fire”.
He wrote on X: “I just spoke with the president @carlos_mazon_
and the mayor @mjosecatala to learn first-hand about the situation and offer all the help that is necessary.
“I want to convey my solidarity to all the people affected and recognition to all the emergency personnel already deployed at the scene.”
Valencia’s Emergency Coordination Centre reported several people had suffered injuries as at 7.49pm local time, including both firefighters and members of the public.
The organisation wrote on X: “A firefighter with a wrist fracture has been transferred in a BLS unit to the General Hospital.
“Two firefighters with burns on their hands and smoke inhalation have been transferred in a SAMU and in a BLS to the La Fe hospital.”
Two men, a woman, and a minor were also said to have been taken to hospital to receive treatment for smoke inhalation.
Local media reported that several metal sheets tumbled to the ground, onto the floor and cars, before fire and police personnel arrived at the scene.
Police began cordoning off the area from 6.45pm local time amid fears that the fire could spread to nearby buildings, according to Economía Digital.
The building was understood to be the last built in the Nou Campanar area of Valencia during the real estate boom.
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