Body of boy, 5, found cuddling pet as he dies alongside dad and nan in fire
The body of a five-year-old boy was found cuddling a pet dog after he died alongside his dad and grandmother in a fire near Benidorm.
The blaze ripped through the 11th floor of a 24-storey building in Villajoyosa, Spain, in the early hours of Monday (March 4), with a woman heard shouting "help, help, please!" according to a witness. Police confirmed a further 15 people were injured, including an officer, and all but one required hospital treatment for smoke inhalation. The family-of-three are understood to have been trapped.
The family is thought to be Spanish. The Civil Guard confirmed reports the trio were members of the same family as they released footage showing investigators inside the gutted apartment.
A spokesman said: “The three people who died have been confirmed to be a five-year-old boy, his father and his grandmother. It appears the fire started accidentally.” A neighbour told local press: “We were asleep and I was woken up by a person yelling, ‘We have to get out, we have to get out, and the firefighters arrived really quickly.”
The blaze ripped through the flat on the 11th floor of the building (ASSOCIATED PRESS)Villajoyosa Town Hall has declared three days of mourning. It added in a statement: “A minute’s silence will be held tomorrow at midday for the three victims of the fire.” Seven of those injured are women aged 24 to 67 and the other eight men aged 13 to 57. A woman could be heard screaming in Spanish: “Help, help please” as flames took hold of the flat where the three people who died are believed to have been trapped.
Missing radioactive capsule found after huge search - and it's the size of a pea
It was not immediately clear this morning if she was one of the victims. A man could also be heard yelling in the agonising footage published by an onlooker.
Firefighters found the family's bodies (Provincial Firefighters Consortium)A spokesman for a regional government-run emergency response coordination centre said: “The fire broke out in a flat on the 11th floor of a residential apartment block in Villajoyosa. Three fire crews were sent to the scene along with paramedics. We received the alarm at 2.13am this morning. The blaze was put out at 7.34am.”
A spokesman for the Civil Guard said: “At 2:13 this morning the Alicante Civil Guard was alerted about a fire on the 11th floor of a 24-storey building in Villajoyosa. Several Civil Guard Units, local Police from Finestrat and Villajoyosa, firefighters from Benidorm, Alicante and San Vicente del Raspeig and several medical teams attended.
The fire broke out in the early hours of Monday (SOLARPIX.COM)
A woman could be heard screaming (SOLARPIX.COM)“120 people were evacuated from their homes. At 3:45am firefighters said they had put out the blaze. As a result of the fire three people who have yet to be formally identified have died. Another 15 minor people suffered minor injuries caused by smoke inhalation. The causes of the fire are currently unknown and Civil Guard investigators are currently working on establishing them.”
One local unconfirmed report has described the three dead as a child, his dad, and the youngster’s grandmother. Responding to reports the three people who lost their lives, a minor and two adults, were part of the same family, the police spokesman said: “We are still working on the identification of the victims at the moment.” On February 22 ten people died after a fire at a residential block of apartments in Valencia.
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
