10 people died in a fire at a nursing home in northeastern Spain

Emergency crews and police work at a nursing home where at least 10 people died in a fire on November 15 in Zaragoza, Spain. (AP)

MADRID, Nov. 16 (AP): At least 10 people were killed and others injured in a fire at a nursing home near Zaragoza in northeastern Spain before firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze, local authorities said Friday. The alarm was raised shortly before 5 a.m. Friday in Villafranca de Ebro, about 28 kilometers (18 miles) from the city of Zaragoza.

Two people remain in serious condition, officials said. The cause of the fire was not yet known. Local media reported that 82 people were living at the Jardines De Villafranca nursing home, which focused on treating people with dementia and mental health problems. Jorge Azcon, head of the regional government of Aragon, which includes Villafranca de Ebro with a population of 840, told reporters outside the nursing home that an investigation into the cause of the fire would be launched.

He said the first priority was to transfer the remaining unharmed residents to other facilities, including one in the city of Huesca, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) away. Volga Ramírez, the mayor of Villafranca de Ebro, told reporters that heavy smoke from the fire likely caused the deaths. “It’s because of smoke inhalation,” Ramirez said, “not because they got burned.” According to her, the remaining residents of the center were safely evacuated.

Zaragoza Fire Department Chief Eduardo Sanchez told reporters that firefighters extinguished a fire that broke out in one room of the center. The fire doors prevented the fire from spreading to the other half of the building, he said. On X, formerly known as Twitter, Azcón announced that all government events in the Aragon region had been canceled for the day.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez wrote on X that he was “shocked by the tragedy” and expressed his condolences to the victims. The fire comes just weeks after devastating flash flooding in the Spanish region of Valencia killed more than 200 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The floods have become the worst natural disaster in recent Spanish history.