Lisa, a young survivor of the deadly fire in Valencia in Spain, described to AFP scenes of chaos with “
pieces of the facade of the building falling everywhere
”.
With her husband, this young Ukrainian woman had left her native country before the Russian invasion, then Israel, where the couple had found refuge, before settling in the third largest city in Spain.
“
We escaped the war in Ukraine, the war in Israel to come here.
And now we are experiencing this
,” she laments, about the disaster which left at least nine dead in Valencia.
When the fire broke out Thursday afternoon in her building, the 34-year-old woman, who did not want to give her last name, had gone out to go to the post office with her husband.
“
We saw the black smoke and we started running because our dog was in the apartment.
When we arrived, the top floors were on fire
,” says this marketing employee.
She remembers “
pieces of the facade of the building falling everywhere
”.
Her husband entered the burning building several times to try to save their dog from their ninth-floor apartment, but was unable to get higher than the sixth floor because of the flames.
“
We had this dog for ten years
,” she says, bursting into tears.
She explains that she has neither slept nor eaten since then and is trying to “
keep busy
” in an attempt to think of something else.
The couple also lost all their Spanish and Ukrainian identity documents, without which they do not know how they will be able to find a home.
"To start all over"
This fire destroyed the 14-story building which had 138 apartments.
It killed at least nine people, authorities said, and left hundreds homeless.
“
In a few minutes, we lost everything.
And now I have nothing left, except what I wear
,” laments José Carlos Perez, 53, dressed in worn jogging pants and a sweatshirt.
A retired banker, Mr. Perez was at home in his twelfth-floor apartment when the fire broke out.
He suddenly smelled smoke and saw, from his terrace, that the building was on fire.
“
The situation was very tense, some people lost their composure, others started to cry,
” he describes, after a sleepless night in a hotel where many victims were relocated by the authorities.
As for what happens next, José has no idea.
“
I have nothing left and I have to start all over again
,” he sums up.
The population of Valencia mobilized to help the residents of the building.
Clothes, books, shoes, toys, diapers and hygiene products were distributed Friday by an army of volunteers a few blocks from the completely burned building.