Fire at care home in Spain kills at least 10 people

Firefighters battle blaze in one room for two hours as local mayor cites smoke inhalation as likely cause of deaths.

A blaze in a care home in Spain’s northeastern Aragon region has killed at least 10 people and left two in critical condition.

Local authorities reported that the fire broke out about 5am (04:00 GMT) on Friday at the Jardines de Villafranca home in the town of Villafranca de Ebro, 28km (18 miles) southeast of the city of Zaragoza.

Firefighters came from Zaragoza to battle the blaze, which took two hours to extinguish.

Volga Ramirez, the mayor of Villafranca de Ebro, told reporters that inhalation of intense smoke from the fire was likely responsible for the deaths.

The cause of the fire was not yet known, but Ramirez said it was confined to one room installed with a security door, which prevented the fire from spreading.

Jorge Azcon, the head of the regional government of Aragon, told reporters an investigation would be opened to determine its cause.

The priority, he said, was to transfer the remaining uninjured residents to other facilities, including one in the city of Huesca, about 90km (56 miles) away.

El Pais newspaper said 82 people had been living in the facility, which was opened in 2008 as a home for the elderly but had recently been specialised for elderly people with mental health problems.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on the social media platform X that he was “shocked at the tragedy” and offered his condolences.

The fire took place weeks after devastating flash floods in the eastern region of Valencia killed more than 200 people and destroyed thousands of homes – the worst natural disaster in Spain’s recent history.

Azcon announced on X that all government events in the Aragon region on Friday were cancelled.