SAVED FROM BLAZE
‘We went into survival mode’ say couple rescued from Valencia inferno by cherry-picker as they hail hero firefighters
Shocking footage shows people trapped on balconies screaming for help as flaming chunks fall from the building
THE couple who cheated death during the devastating Valencia fire said they "went into survival mode" before heroic firefighters saved them.
Trapped on their seventh-floor balcony for over two hours, the pair were rescued from the inferno which killed at least ten with a cherry picker.
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Sara, a Portuguese national and her partner Amar, from Belgium, have now spoken out for the first time about their ordeal.
Dramatic footage showed the couple screaming as the flames engulfed the apartment block and firefighters doused the balcony with water to keep them calm.
They were forced to cover their faces with scarves and woolly hats as a shield from the flames, smoke and intense heat.
The resourceful rescue workers turned to cherry pickers, hydraulic cranes with platforms for raising and lowering people, to scoop them from the burning balcony.
Sara, speaking to local press, said: “It was more than two and a half hours trapped on our balcony but the important thing is we’re still alive. We went into survival mode to come out of this alive."
“The firefighters were telling us they were trying to put out the flames above us as well as below us.
“They were incredible. They risked their lives to save us and that’s why we’re here today.”
And Amar admitted: “You always think something like this could happen to others, but not to you.”
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They were incredible. They risked their lives to save us and that’s why we’re here today
Sara, rescued by firefighters from the burning building
The raging blaze - which broke out before 6pm on Thursday - burned through the buildings' flammable cladding in a horrifying echo of London's Grenfell Tower tragedy.
The fire is thought to have started on the fourth floor and engulfed one tower within just 14 minutes - trapping some of the 350 residents registered as living in the 14-storey complex.
At least ten have been confirmed as dead, including a young couple with their 3-year-old boy and 15-day-old baby girl, El Diario Vasco reports.
Thirteen others are still missing and firefighters have said they do not expect anyone to have survived.
A further 14 were treated for their injuries including a seven-year-old child and six firefighters.
Twelve of them were rushed to hospital and the official death toll is expected to rise steeply in the coming days.
Sara and Amar miraculously confirmed that they were okay and had not suffered any injuries.
It comes as...
- Blaze started on seventh floor of a 14-storey residential building in city's Campanar neighbourhood
- Rapid spread of fire has been blamed on highly flammable cladding
- At least six have died and 13 people are still missing - with firefighters saying none are expected to be alive
- Valencia's mayor says foreigners were inside the building - including the Ukrainian couple who escaped
- Hero janitor went door-to-door to save neighbours after fire alarms failed to sound
- Three days of official mourning will be declared
The missing residents include a young couple and their children, aged two and two months.
Esther Puchades, deputy head of Valencia’s Industrial Engineers Association, blamed the quick spread of the fire on the building's highly flammable polyurethane cladding.
And residents who managed to escape told local press that the alarms and sprinklers inside the flats did not go off after the flames had ignited.
My husband told me that there was a lot of smoke and we went out into the hallway... Not a single alarm has sounded nor have the diffusers worked
Building resident
One woman told ABC Spain: "My husband told me that there was a lot of smoke and we went out into the hallway.
"Then we have seen people running with their children... Not a single alarm has sounded nor have the diffusers worked."
Someone else described the inferno as "hell" and "madness", and another sobbed as she told local press her cat was trapped inside.
Horror footage shows flaming chunks of the building breaking off and crashing to the ground on Thursday evening.
Raging orange flames and thick black smoke billowed from every side of the complex - one survivor said he thinks there were more than 500 people inside at the time.
Tragic footage of people trapped in their flats and on their balconies showed them pleading for help.
Other clips showed a brave emergency worker trying to save someone with a crane as another firefighter was forced to throw himself from the building onto a mat below.
And a heroic janitor went door to door pulling people out when the alarms failed to sound, one resident told ABC.
Drones were used to identify the bodies of those who died on their balconies.
A Ukrainian couple who fled the warzone in their country and moved to Spain, are now homeless after their fourth-floor flat went up in flames.
"We arrived in Valencia escaping the bombs in Ukraine and now a fire has left us with nothing," Dymitro Hambarov told Spanish outlet El Mundo.
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One resident told local media that it was ignited inside one of the 137 flats before burning through the building, in the Campanar neighbourhood.
Those who managed to make it out alive said last night the fire had spread through both towers in just 30 minutes after the first flames were spotted.
An investigation into its cause will begin once firefighters and cops can enter the building but is already being linked to a possible electrical fault.
I saw people being burnt and shouting for help from balconies, a couple and a child. I’m feeling devastated
Maite, witness
María José Catalá, Valencia's mayor, said foreigners were inside the apartment block.
"We know there are foreigners and the information we have is likely to change during the day," she said.
"At the moment we know there are 14 people who are unaccounted for, but we know... there are people who are foreigners who were spending a few days in Valencia and that can make things more complicated.
“Until we can enter the building, we won’t know the true situation.”
Esther Puchades, deputy head of Valencia’s Industrial Engineers Association, blamed the fire's rapid spread on the building's highly flammable polyurethane cladding.
Speaking from the scene after midnight local time, Mr Suárez said "the worst hypothesis is confirmed: four people dead".
And Valencian Government president Carlos Mazón said it was with "great pain what we already feared is confirmed".
Catalá, Valencia's mayor, said the city council would decree three days of official mourning.
She added: "There are no words that describe the enormous pain that the city of Valencia is feeling right now."
A woman called Maite, who lives opposite the apartment block, told local press: “I saw people being burnt and shouting for help from balconies, a couple and a child. I’m feeling devastated.
“I left my home and went down into the street in case the flames jumped to our building. I just grabbed hold of my handbag, nothing else.”
One of the building's residents told ABC: "In a matter of minutes, it has been unstoppable.
"I don't know who the trapped people are. We have all been left with nothing and we have no idea of the origin of the fire."
And another witness said strong winds caused the flames to leap from one building to another.
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"Everything happened very quickly.
"The wind blew from the north strongly and then, when only that part was affected, a change in wind occurred that brought the fire to one side of the building."
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