Fire kills six at Spanish retirement home

A view shows the scene where a fire ripped through a retirement home in Valencia, Spain, January 19, 2022. REUTERS/Eva Manez

MADRID — Six residents died in a fire at a Spanish retirement home in a suburb of Valencia early on Wednesday.

The blaze started late on Tuesday night and took around two hours to bring under control, the fire department said on Twitter.

Five people died in the home and a sixth died in hospital, the regional health department said.

Around 70 residents were evacuated from the home in the suburb of Moncada, and 15 people were taken to the hospital suffering from smoke inhalation, emergency services said.

Town councilor and firefighter Martin Perez Aranda told the television channel 24H that an unextinguished cigarette or an electrical fault linked to an oxygen bottle was among the possible causes being investigated.