Faulty kitchen appliance is identified as cause of deadly Valencia fire in Spain that killed 10 people

A FAULTY kitchen appliance caused last month’s Valencia apartment block fire that killed 10 people.

A secrecy order on the court investigation into the blaze in the Campanar district of the city has been lifted, with the Government delegate in the Valencian Community, Pilar Bernabe, revealing the cause on Monday.

Bernabe said that the blaze was started by ‘an appliance in the kitchen’ and indicated that it could have been a refrigerator.

The news quashes reports that the fire was started by an electrical short circuit in the mechanism of a balcony awning outside an apartment.

It emerged last Friday that the Policia Nacional decided that there was no ‘criminality’ behind the fire with the investigating court agreeing to end its inquiries.

The fire broke out on February 22 shortly after 5.30pm in an eighth floor property and the flames quickly spread throughout the building due to the materials used in the wall.

Insurance company assessors have been given permission to enter the damaged building under police supervision.