Spanish officials say at least ten people are dead, media reports say 14 injured after fire engulfed a high-rise apartment complex
Firefighters were seen rescuing people from balconies, using cranes to reach those trapped on high floors
Although the building is still very hot, firefighters have been able to enter the lower floors and begin searching for the missing people
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has visited the scene and promised all possible aid to the city and its region
There are fears that highly flammable cladding on the building's facade may have helped the fire spread - as in the 2017 tragedy at London's Grenfell Tower
The block ravaged by fire in the Spanish city of Valencia is located in the north-west of the city.
The complex consists of two adjoining blocks in the Campanar neighbourhood, described to us by a local resident as "beautiful" and "peaceful".
Four people were killed after a fire engulfed the building, with as many as 15 others still unaccounted for, say officials.
Here are some images from Valencia today - hours after the fire ripped through an apartment block in the neighbourhood of Campanar, killing at least four people.
Image source, ReutersOnlookers gather near the smouldering remains of the high-rise residential complex in Valencia
Image source, reuFirefighters have spent hours trying to cool down the building so they can get access inside
Image source, Getty ImagesA man sweeps ash on the rooftop of his home, situated across from the apartment block which caught fire on Thursday
First, we wanted to find out the exact location of the apartment block. So we used Spanish news sites such as El Pais, external as well as Google Maps. We found the location here, external.
Image source, Google MapsGoogle Maps image of the apartment block taken in January 2022.
Image source, Google MapsThe specific apartment where the blaze started (image taken from Google Maps in January 2022).
Then we wanted to find out some information about the building including materials used during construction.
There’s some interesting footage in circulation on social media, such as here, external (1.1M views) that’s purportedly a promo film for the building that caught fire. Also reported by the Spanish daily, La Vanguardia.
Image source, FBEX / Google MapsComposite image taken from both the promo film and Google Maps.
La Vanguardia, external also gave us some information about specific building materials.
“The developer FBEX, which in 2010 entered bankruptcy proceedings as a victim of the bursting of the real estate bubble, offered a promotional video in which it argued that the façade, which is where the flames spread at high speed, "are covered" with an innovative material.
We found adverts for apartments for sale or rent within the block. Here, external, rental cost is advertised as 1,900 euros. This one, external has a picture looking out on the roundabout near the block. This ad, external for an apartment for sale for 335,000 Euro was apparently cancelled yesterday.
We found phone numbers for those companies who were renting or selling the apartments.
Image source, Google MapsImage taken from Google Maps in January 2022.
Using more Spanish media, external we found more images of the block pre-fire.
We are now using WhatsApp, X and other social media platforms to find eyewitnesses.
Image source, ReutersValencia has declared three days of mourning following last night's deadly apartment block fire.
Four people were killed in the fire while many others remain unaccounted for, say the Spanish authorities.
In a statement, the city's football club said they would "leave the flags at half-mast" at the home stadium and would be postponing this Saturday's match against Granada CF.
A statement by the club, posted on social media, read: "We are extremely devastated to confirm some residents of the building have lost their life in the Valencia fire and some others are still missing."
The message continued: "We would like to send our sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims. Rest in peace."
The Spanish team said that all players and coaches at the club would observe a minute's silence at the beginning of today's training session and that it had "made itself available to institutions and emergency services".
Strong winds are believed to have contributed to the speed with which a devastating fire took hold - decimating two adjoining apartment blocks in Valencia on Thursday.
At the time of the fire, the port city - in eastern Spain - was experiencing gusts of up to 60kmph (40mph), according to Spain's national weather agency AEMET.
Four people were killed and at least 15 others are believed to be missing, according to Spanish officials.
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Tarik Habte
Live reporter
Image source, Siena SwiftLocal residents in the neighbourhood have offered donations to those impacted by the fire
The Valencia neighbourhood where a fatal fire in an apartment block killed at least four on Thursday has been described as "friendly" and "peaceful" by a local resident.
Siena Swift, who is originally from the US, moved to the Spanish city last September. She described the district of Campanar, where the fire broke out, as "a really beautiful and lovely neighbourhood".
"Everyone is so friendly," said Swift. "I've loved living here so much. It's such a safe neighbourhood, very peaceful."
She said firefighters remain at the scene, adding that, while people are still in shock, the local community is "coming together to support the emergency services".
Image source, EPAHere is the latest from the Spanish city of Valencia, following Thursday's devastating fire.
Image source, EPASpanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (centre) visited the scene of the fire in Campanar on Friday
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has just been speaking from Valencia, where he thanked the emergency services, particularly firefighters, for their essential work.
His government, he said, is there to provide "all types of support" for the immediate rescue operation, and clarify what happened.
The priority right now is the search for victims, Sanchez said, and the safety of those involved in the rescue.
The PM made just a brief appearance. He said he was moved by the wave of solidarity and empathy he had witnessed across the Campanar neighbourhood and the wider city.
Tarik Habte
Live reporter
Image source, Siena SwiftLocal residents were shocked to see how fast the fire spread
American teaching assistant Siena Swirte lives just a block away from the fire, and told the BBC the scene looked "apocalyptic". She watched the flames take hold from outside her building.
"It spread so fast. I've never seen anything like it, it was apocalyptic-looking.
"You could hear the glass shattering, you could hear things exploding, you could see chunks of the building falling off.
"We could see people on the balconies", Swirte added.
Sirens from the emergency services were heard all night, she said.
Four people are know to have died in last night's fire, but as many as 15 people are thought to still be missing.
Spanish media reports say firefighters who have worked all morning trying to cool the buildings have now been able to go inside - though only up to the third storey due to the intensity of the temperatures.
New details are emerging about the sheer ferocity of the fire, which spread throughout the two buildings in just half an hour.
El Pais reports that one firefighter had to jump from the seventh floor onto a mat.
Others reached the 12th floor - the buildings had 14 - and were able to rescue residents.
The Spanish outlet reports that six of those firefighters received psychological treatment afterwards.
Emergency workers are known to be among nine people taken to hospital, local media say. Seven firefighters have been treated and five are in hospital. Their status is not believed to be critical.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is now at the scene and is being briefed on the emergency operation, local media report.
Guy Hedgecoe
Reporting from Madrid
Spain's defence minister, Margarita Robles, says the situation for emergency services regarding the fire is "very complicated, very difficult".
Members of the military's emergency unit have been helping rescue efforts and using drones to search the building. The minister says they will remain at the site "as long as it takes".
Tom Symonds
Home affairs correspondent
We’re trying to find out the technical details of the building, but this fire does seem to have similarities to the 2017 Grenfell disaster.
Cladding is added to the outside of modern buildings to keep the weather at bay. Behind the panels there is usually an air space to help insulation and prevent damp.
Aluminium Composite Panels, ACM, have been widely used for this sort of building facade, and were responsible for spreading the fire at Grenfell. They often have a plastic layer which is highly flammable: it melts, drips and spreads burning flames.
However, not all ACM is highly flammable.
In the standard European tests for "reaction to fire", products are rated A to F - with A1 being the top rating.
Manufacturers produce some versions which are classified A2, making them more likely to resist the spread of fire.
As was the case at Grenfell, there are also versions rated D, or even E in some tests, which have now been banned for high-rise buildings in the UK.
Another crucial factor could be whether the panels are shaped into "cassettes". Again, these have been shown to perform worse in fires.
This post was updated at 12:39
Image source, Manuel Queimadelos Alonso / Getty ImagesA Spanish journalist has described how the fire rapidly consumed the two adjoined blocks.
Paco Polit told the BBC World Service's Newsday programme: "It's officially the worst fire suffered in the city of Valencia, I would say, ever.
"It expanded, and suddenly engulfed the whole building."
Polit told the programme that "many questions" are now being asked about how the buildings were constructed, and "the whole city is in shock at this moment".
Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor
Image source, JOSE JORDAN/AFPFirefighters are trying to cool the building but flames have reignited in one area
Temperatures inside the apartment blocks are far too high for firefighters to enter, even though most of the fire is out.
For the moment they are busy dousing the blackened remains of the building to cool it down, but flames have been seen reigniting at the rear so it could take some time.
Firefighters did manage to rescue some of the building's residents last night, and several were injured doing so, but Spanish media say they could not reach the top two floors in the 14-floor apartment blocks.
Drones have spent the night and this morning flying over and around the structure to help with the search.
And it's not just firefighters who are trying to get into the wrecked buildings. Spain's forensic police are waiting to go in with them to find out what caused Valencia's worst fire on record, and why it spread so fast with such deadly consequences.
The military's emergency unit is also taking part in the operation.
A family of four, including a three-year-old boy and a 15-day-old baby girl are among those missing, according to local media reports, external.
The couple and their two children lived in the incinerated building and have not been accounted for yet, as reported by Las Provincias.
Deadly fire engulfs Valencia residential buildings
Image source, Getty ImagesSpanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is on his way to the scene in Valencia's Campanar neighbourhood.
Earlier he expressed support and condolences for those affected by the deadly blaze.
Sanchez said he was "shocked by the terrible fire", adding that he was in touch with Valencia's mayor and regional officials and ready to offer "whatever help needed".
Four people are confirmed to have died in the blaze, but the number of missing is not currently clear.
Valencia's Mayor María José Catalá says authorities are trying to locate between nine and 15 people.
The Spanish government's representative in the region, Pilar Bernabé García, put the number unaccounted for at about 14.
According to experts quoted by local media, highly flammable cladding on the building allowed the fire to spread rapidly.
Esther Puchades, who is the vice president of the College of Industrial Technical Engineers of Valencia, tells Spanish news agency Efe , externalthat she had previously inspected the building.
The building's exterior, Puchades explains, featured a material that is no longer in wide use due to fears over flammability. It also has an aluminium covering.
"The reason the [building] burned so fast is because of this type of cladding," she adds.
The cladding has been described by experts as effective for heat insulation but the ventilation, or gap, between it and the covering means it can be highly flammable.
Luis Sendra, of Valencia's architects' association, says this can cause a "chimney effect", allowing fires to spread more quickly.
The issue of flammable cladding gained prominence in the UK after the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster, in which 72 people died when a tower block in west London caught fire.