#UPDATED at 16h on 19 February.
Three women have died after a fire broke out at a retirement home in Madrid on Sunday, with 17 others injured.
The blaze broke out at around 7am in a room on the first floor of the Juan XXIII residence in Moncloa-Aravaca, which is home to 39 people, authorities said.
‘We found the second floor flooded with smoke and we had to evacuate the residents who were there to a secure place,’ firefighter José Luis Castillo said in a video posted by Madrid’s emergency services on X (formerly Twitter).
The emergency services confirmed that two women had died on Sunday in the blaze. A third woman, who had been taken to hospital in a critical condition, succumbed to her injuries on Monday, a spokesperson for the capital’s La Paz Hospital told the media.
16 other pensioners had been taken to hospital with moderate or light injuries, mostly due to smoke inhalation.
‘The problem was the evacuation and presence of smoke. Once again, smoke is what ends up causing harm. One of the deaths was due to smoke inhalation,’ firefighter Roberto Moreira told reporters at the scene.
Spanish media said the women who died were in their 80s. The cause of the blaze is still being investigated.
‘Our deepest condolences for the two who died after the fire in a residence,’ Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida wrote on X on Sunday.
Nuestras más sentidas condolencias por las dos fallecidas tras el incendio en una residencia de Moncloa-Aravaca. Todo el apoyo y cariño de Madrid, y nuestros deseos de recuperación de las personas heridas.
— José Luis Martínez-Almeida (@AlmeidaPP_) February 18, 2024
DEP
Balance final incendio residencia #Aravaca.
— 112 Comunidad de Madrid (@112cmadrid) February 18, 2024
– 2 fallecidos
– 1 herida muy grave
– 16 residentes trasladados en estado moderado.
– 1 residente trasladado leve.
Del total de 18 trasladados, 11 por #SUMMA112 y el resto por @SAMUR_PC
Resto de residentes alta en el lugar. pic.twitter.com/G8d3KuiX77
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