fatal fire los realejos tenerife three dead

Three Dead in Tenerife Blaze as Community Mourns

Neighbours Heard Screams from Burning Building

A young neighbour of the building that caught fire in Tenerife in the early hours of last Saturday, a blaze which has so far claimed three lives, stated that they “heard the neighbours screaming inside the burning building and very loud bangs.” That was his first impression after waking up minutes after the flames began to spread from a flat on the first floor of the property in the municipality of Los Realejos, in the north of the island.

To date, the victims are a 75-year-old woman who died at the scene, and a married couple, a 70-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man, who died in the Hospital Nuestra Señora de La Candelaria. The 75-year-old woman who died in the early hours of Saturday was a retired teacher who, for several years, taught at a school in Puerto de la Cruz. The other two victims were the adoptive parents of her daughter.

Critical Condition and Scene of the Blaze

Meanwhile, a 60-year-old woman, who suffered a cardiorespiratory arrest due to smoke inhalation, was resuscitated and transferred in a critical condition to the Hospital Universitario de Canarias (HUC), where she remains in a serious state. The incident occurred at number 23 Calle Los Bancales, in the Toscal-Longuera area, at 3:29 in the morning. “There were very loud bangs, like glass shattering,” explained one resident near the scene.

The causes of the serious fire at the Rosme II building have not yet been made public. However, this witness claimed that when he went out onto the street with his dog in the early hours, at 2:00 or 5:00 for example, “a light was always on, like from a television, in the flat where the fire started.” In any case, the young man clarified that this does not mean that was the origin of the flames, but he insists the same light was always visible from outside.

Rapid Spread and Rescue Efforts

The first person to realise there was a fire was a man who lives in the flat adjoining where the blaze began. Reportedly, explain local people, the flat where the flames started had a significant accumulation of objects, which may have contributed to their rapid spread. Some neighbours tried to put out the fire with an extinguisher but did not succeed, as it was already very large and well-advanced. Flames and smoke were pouring from the balcony, while a strong, intense column of black smoke billowed from a side window.

The seven people affected by smoke inhalation, two of whom have since died and another remains seriously ill, were found on the stairs and in the building’s courtyard. The rest of the residents in the block of 16 flats locked themselves in their homes and were unharmed. The first police officers to arrive at the scene could not enter through the ground floor entrance due to the intense smoke, illustrating the distressing situation that prevailed until the fire brigade arrived.

Official Mourning and Building Inspection

The Los Realejos Town Council yesterday announced the declaration of three days of official mourning for the death of its three residents. The incident has caused great dismay among citizens in the Toscal-Longuera area and throughout the municipality. Indeed, at midday on Sunday, all pedestrians and those passing in their vehicles along Calle Los Bancales stopped and looked at the blackened facade of the Rosme II building.

The first technical inspection of the property was carried out on Saturday morning by an architect from the Municipal Urban Planning Department, who initially detected no damage to the structure of the residential block. The building remained cordoned off and under guard by National Police officers on Sunday, as officers from the Scientific Police and the Judicial Police of the Puerto de la Cruz station still need to carry out inspections.

Displaced Families Receive Support

After spending a first night in a local hotel, on Sunday the two families who opted for that alternative decided to start staying with relatives. Local police from Los Realejos and National Police officers evacuated a total of 30 people, belonging to around thirteen families. The Town Council reported that it is at the disposal of the managing agent of the affected building’s owners’ association and each family individually to try to assist them with whatever they may need.

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