Redaccion
Two firefighters died trapped by the smoke and 14 others were injured, one of them in critical condition. This is the toll of yesterday’s fire in the underground garage that has shocked Alcorcón. The city is in mourning.
The firefighters were still working in the damaged garage today. The investigation will determine all the circumstances of the deadly fire, but it is confirmed that one of the two deceased firefighters, Jesús, 34 years old, re-entered the parking lot to save his colleague Sergio, 27. Both lost their lives.
In the fire, 14 firefighters were injured. One of them, Guillermo, is in critical condition in the burn unit of the Getafe hospital. He remains in critical condition, intubated, but stable. The rest were treated yesterday for minor smoke inhalation.
Interview with Jesús’s father, one of the deceased firefighters in Alcorcón
The Police have not yet entered the garage
The Forensic Police have not been able to enter the garage in the Madrid town of Alcorcón, where the accident involving an electric car on Wednesday caused the death of two firefighters, due to the accumulation of gases and the danger posed by their toxicity.
Sources close to the investigation have told EFE that the entry of these agents, responsible for gathering evidence to clarify what happened, is still not secure, and it is likely that they will not be able to do so on Thursday.
They also hope to be able to question the driver of the electric car that caused the fire as soon as possible. According to other sources consulted by EFE, the driver had modified his vehicle, which had the controls on the steering wheel.
Five minutes of silence in Alcorcón: Councilor Novillo, very emotional, remembers his colleagues
Error in driving
For reasons that are still unknown, the driver accelerated the car, presumably by mistake, and crashed into the garage door, a column, and another car, causing an explosion. «He accelerated instead of braking,» said a neighbor to Telemadrid.
The Municipal Firefighters rushed to the garage, located on Calle Lilos in the Madrid municipality, and two of them died, apparently one due to the explosion and the other from smoke inhalation.
The Alcorcón City Council has declared three days of mourning in the town.
