Elena Gocmen Rueda
AN elderly couple has died when a fire swept through their apartment in Vilassar de Mar (Barcelona).
Investigators are searching for the cause of the fire in which Pepe and Josefa, 70, were killed.
Firefighters say that emergency calls were made about an explosion that affected one of the floors in the 10 storey building.
But it is unknown if the explosion caused the blaze, or if it was triggered by the fire. First indications are that the blaze may have been caused by a gas leak.
Earlier this year the Olive Press reported how the number of blazes due to electrical faults and other domestic accidents had shot up by 25% to a total of 140 by the end of June in Castellon province, between Barcelona and Valencia.
Seven of these caused, with three people losing their lives mainly due to smoke A 64-year-old man lost his life and another was critically injured in a house fire in the La Plana area of Castellon city.
Previous cases this year involved an 80-year-old man who was found burned to death in his country home in Cabanes, and an 89-year-old who died from intoxication due to smoke inhalation three days after his house in Torreblanca caught fire.
Some 5,000 leaflets in English, Spanish and Valenciano were then handed out by the Castellon fire service to homeowners with information about how to avoid starting fires and what to do if one occurs.
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