HEROIC firefighters used cherry pickers to rescue a desperate couple from their balcony during the horror fire at an apartment complex in Valencia.
The terrified pair were trapped on their seventh-floor balcony for over two hours before they were saved from the inferno which killed at least four.
AFPThe terrified couple scream from their balcony as a brave firefighter reaches them with the cherry picker[/caption]
Two residents cover their faces in hats and scarves to shield themselves as they wait to be rescuedTVE/UNPIXS
GettyThe fire started at an apartment inside one of the residential blocks before rapidly spreading to the one next to it[/caption]
GettyHundreds of people were trapped inside and four people have been confirmed dead so far[/caption]
AFPEmergency workers are searching for residents in the burnt building shell today – but none are thought to be alive[/caption]
The moment firefighters rescued the terrified couple from their balcony
APAt least 14 are missing and emergency workers can’t yet go inside[/caption]
EPAEmergency workers gather around a distraught resident on Thursday[/caption]
They were forced to cover their faces with scarves and woolly hats as a shield from the flames, smoke and intense heat.
Dramatic footage even showed them trying to jump from their balcony to their neighbour’s as fire crews tried to calm them down.
Brave rescue workers on the ground ferociously doused their flat with water to keep the flames at bay as the couple screamed for help.
And around 8pm resourceful firefighters turned to cherry pickers, hydraulic cranes with platforms for raising and lowering people, to scoop them from the burning balcony.
The raging blaze – which broke out before 6pm on Thursday – burned through the buildings’ flammable cladding in a horrifying echo of London’s Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The fire is thought to have started on the fourth floor in one of the apartments, trapping hundreds of people there, before rapidly spreading.
At least 14 people are still missing as the search for residents continues today – but firefighters have said none are thought to be alive.
A further 14 were treated for their injuries including a seven-year-old child and six firefighters.
My husband told me that there was a lot of smoke and we went out into the hallway… Not a single alarm has sounded nor have the diffusers worked
Building resident
Twelve of them were rushed to hospital and the official death toll is expected to rise steeply in the coming days.
One woman who escaped the burning building told ABC Spain that no alarms went off in the building and the diffuser sprinklers didn’t come on after the flames started either.
“My husband told me that there was a lot of smoke and we went out into the hallway,” she said.
“Then we have seen people running with their children… Not a single alarm has sounded nor have the diffusers worked.”
Someone else described the inferno as “hell” and “madness”, and another sobbed as she told local press her cat was trapped inside.
Horror footage shows flaming chunks of the building breaking off and crashing to the ground on Thursday evening.
Raging orange flames and thick black smoke billowed from every side of the complex – which is home to around 350 people.
One survivor said he thinks there were more than 500 people in the buildings.
Tragic footage of people trapped in their flats and on their balconies showed them pleading for help.
Other clips showed a brave emergency worker trying to save someone with a crane as another firefighter was forced to throw himself from the building onto a mat below.
And a heroic janitor went door to door pulling people out when the alarms failed to sound, one resident told ABC.
Drones were used to identify the bodies of those who died on their balconies.
TVE/UNPIXSTwo firefighters desperately douse the flames with water[/caption]
ReutersWitnesses comfort each other during the catastrophic fire[/caption]
TVE/UNPIXSA trapped resident waits to be rescued on their balcony[/caption]
GettyHundreds of people watch on in horror at the building burns[/caption]
One resident told local media that it was ignited inside one of the 137 flats before burning through the building, in the Campanar neighbourhood.
Those who managed to make it out alive said last night the fire had spread through both towers in just 30 minutes after the first flames were spotted.
An investigation into its cause will begin once firefighters and cops can enter the building but is already being linked to a possible electrical fault.
I saw people being burnt and shouting for help from balconies, a couple and a child. I’m feeling devastated
Maite, witness
María José Catalá, Valencia’s mayor, said foreigners were inside the apartment block.
“We know there are foreigners and the information we have is likely to change during the day,” she said.
“At the moment we know there are 14 people who are unaccounted for, but we know… there are people who are foreigners who were spending a few days in Valencia and that can make things more complicated.
“Until we can enter the building, we won’t know the true situation.”
Esther Puchades, deputy head of Valencia’s Industrial Engineers Association, blamed the quick spread of the fire on the building’s highly flammable polyurethane cladding.
Speaking from the scene after midnight local time, Mr Suárez said “the worst hypothesis is confirmed: four people dead”.
And Valencian Government president Carlos Mazón said it was with “great pain what we already feared is confirmed”.
Catalá, Valencia’s mayor, said the city council would decree three days of official mourning.
She added: “There are no words that describe the enormous pain that the city of Valencia is feeling right now.”
A woman called Maite, who lives opposite the apartment block, told local press: “I saw people being burnt and shouting for help from balconies, a couple and a child. I’m feeling devastated.
“I left my home and went down into the street in case the flames jumped to our building. I just grabbed hold of my handbag, nothing else.”
One of the building’s residents told ABC: “In a matter of minutes, it has been unstoppable.
“I don’t know who the trapped people are. We have all been left with nothing and we have no idea of the origin of the fire.”
And another witness said strong winds caused the flames to leap from one building to another.
“Everything happened very quickly.
“The wind blew from the north strongly and then, when only that part was affected, a change in wind occurred that brought the fire to one side of the building.”
ReutersEmergency services worked overnight after the blaze was put out[/caption]
APThe search for missing residents continues today in the ruins of the building complex[/caption]
It has been described as Valencia’s worst-ever fireGetty
Leave a comment
