The blaze started around midnight and took
around two hours to come under control, the fire department said on its Twitter
feed.
Around 70 residents were evacuated from the
home in Moncada, a northern suburb of Valencia, Spain’s third largest city. The
home has rooms for 100 people.
Eleven people were transferred to hospital
suffering from smoke inhalation, emergency services said.
The cause of the fire was being investigated
by the fire department and police.
“First clues, according to what they told
me, point at two possibilities: an electric failure possibly linked to an
oxygen bottle or a neglect from a resident who was smoking,” town
councillor and firefighter Martin Perez Aranda told 24H TV.
He said most of the residents of the burned
area were relocated in spare space in the home and will be evacuated to other
homes in the region during the day.
