AN eighth person has died following last week’s fire in a Moncada nursing home, believed to have been started by a short-circuit in a multi-plug socket.
Five residents died in the fire last Wednesday, a sixth passed away hours later in hospital, and a seventh person died in hospital on Sunday.
Today, Tuesday, the Health Department announced the death of the eighth victim who had been in a serious condition in hospital since the blaze. Six other people who were injured in the fire are currently being treated in hospital, but not in intensive care.
The Guardia Civil is investigating the cause of the fire which is believed to have been started by a short-circuit in a multi-plug socket, in a wing which housed residents with the greatest mobility difficulties.
The blaze broke out on Tuesday night (18 January) just after 11pm and was extinguished by 00:40 on Wednesday. When firefighters arrived the first floor was already full of smoke and the fire was “well advanced”.
There were 81 residents in total with 40 on two floors. The residents in the wing where the blaze took place had to be evacuated one by one via a human chain made up of the emergency crews.
Authorities in the town of Moncada, just north of Valencia, held three days of official mourning with flags at half mast.
The Valencia Report 