Tourists are among 14 people missing and feared dead in the Valencia apartment block inferno in addition to four victims known to have died when fire spread in the Grenfell Tower-like disaster.
Valencia‘s mayoress Maria Jose Catala said on those still missing after the devastating blaze: ‘We have this information from relatives who are contacting us and saying they can’t locate their loved ones.
‘We know there are foreigners and the information we have is likely to change during the day.’ No nationalitites have been released by officials yet on those feared dead.
Asked if the foreigners staying there could have been renting holiday let-style apartments for just a few days, the mayoress replied: ‘It’s possible.’
Prediction
Firefighters expect to find 14 more bodies when they today enter a Spanish apartment block gutted by fire in a Grenfell Tower-like disaster, with officials admitting that nobody trapped inside is thought to be alive.
Dead Bodies Can’t Be Carried Out Yet
The bodies of the four people who died, spotted on terraces by firefighters who sent up a drone late last night, have not been identified and remain in the building, home to 138 flats and more than 400 residents.
Crews have been unable to enter the twin multi-storey towers that form part of the building since the devastating blaze broke out just before 5.30pm yesterday and tore through inflammable cladding blamed along with high winds for its rapid spread.
Firefighters have admitted they do not expect to find anyone trapped by the flames inside the building alive, raising fears the final death toll could be over 18.
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Official Statement
Mayoress Jose Catala said: ‘At the moment we know there are 14 people who are unaccounted for but we know that process is variable and 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.’
She added: ‘Yesterday the information police were working on is that there were 19 people unaccounted for and this morning that figure is 14. Firefighters still don’t know when they will be able to enter the building.’
Spain’s PM Pedro Sanchez is travelling to the scene and is expected to arrive around midday.
As it is
Officials have confirmed all 14 people injured, including six fire fighters, will pull through and none of their conditions are life-threatening. Only six are believed to remain in hospital.
The injured people included nine men aged 25 and 57, four women aged between 27 and 81, and a seven-year-old boy.
The death toll is expected to rise rapidly once firefighters have cooled down the outside of the building and can safely go inside once the risk of a structural collapse has been ruled out.
The city of 800,000 on the east coast of Spain came to a standstill last night, as sires blared through the streets.
