10 perish in Spain apartment block blaze
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10 perish in Spain apartment block blaze

Fire fanned by strong winds in affluent district of Valencia

A drone used by the fire department flies near an apartment building in Valencia, Spain where a fire took 10 lives. (Photo: Reuters)
A drone used by the fire department flies near an apartment building in Valencia, Spain where a fire took 10 lives. (Photo: Reuters)

VALENCIA, Spain - Police found a 10th body in an apartment block devastated by a huge fire in Spain’s third largest city, authorities said on Saturday.

The blaze, fanned by strong winds, broke out on Thursday evening in the affluent El Campanar district of Valencia.

On Friday evening, authorities said on X that police had revised the number of dead to nine from 10 in the process of identifying the bodies in the building.

But authorities confirmed a 10th body had been found on Saturday morning, in a new statement.

Some 100 survivors were housed in hotels on Friday night.

A minute’s silence was to be held at Valencia City Hall on Saturday, the second day of three official days of mourning decreed after the fire.

Emergency services said the blaze began on the fourth floor of one of the towers but gave no cause. A local magistrate has opened an investigation into the blaze.

The building, comprising two towers linked by what its developers described as a “panoramic lift”, was completed in 2008, officials said. It had 138 apartments, the newspaper El Pais reported.

Local residents have rallied around, donating clothes, food and medicines for surviving residents who lost all their belongings in the fire. 

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