Fire at care home in northeast Spain kills 10 and leaves two critically injured

The Jardines de Villafranca residence was opened in 2008 as a home for the elderly but had recently started to take in people with mental health problems.

Authorities said there were 82 residents and two workers inside when the blaze broke out at the facility in the northeastern town of some 850 residents.

‘We must stand with the victims of this regrettable event which has left 10 people dead and two in a critical condition. Hopefully these two people will recover,’ Ángel Víctor Torres, minister in charge of cooperation with Spain’s regions, told Spanish public television TVE.

Zaragoza fire chief Eduardo Sánchez told reporters that firefighters had extinguished a blaze in one room of the centre.

Volga Ramírez Gamiz, the town’s mayor, told reporters the fire broke out at around 5am and was concentrated in one room but smoke then spread throughout the residence.

‘Fortunately that room has a security door,’ which prevented the fire from spreading, she said. ‘There was a lot of smoke, outside too, you couldn’t even breathe.’

Many of the residents had ‘mobility problems’ which made it difficult to evacuate them quickly, said Gamiz.

‘There are people from all walks of life, with many problems. Very young people, because there are people as young as 25 years old. In other words, we are not just talking about older people,’ she said.