A firedeclared in the early hours of this Friday that it had its origin in one of the rooms of the nursing home The Villafranca Gardens, in Villafranca de Ebro (Zaragoza), end with 10 residents dead and two seriously injuredas confirmed by the Civil Guard and the Government of Aragon in Sexta. With anxiety still present, many relatives arrived early to reunite with their loved ones, knowing they were safe.
“When they told me what had happened,The first thing they said to me was, “Your mother is fine.”and that was already a relief,” said the son of one of the residents. “They called me from the residence and told me that my father was fine,” said another relative.
The situation of uncertainty was particularly difficult for the relatives of residents suffering from reduced mobility or serious illnesses. “My aunt suffers from senile dementia, so she couldn’t tell us anything,” commented the niece of one of the people affected. Meanwhile, a son of those affected recalled the difficult task of evacuating his father: “He is totally deaf, so neither shouting ‘fire’ or ‘get out quickly’ would have been of any use to him.”
The fire is gone two victims hospitalized in serious condition. As the president of Aragon reported, “one of the residents is in intensive care in critical condition, while the other is receiving treatment in the emergency room.” Despite the tragedy, the majority of those affected were able to be evacuated without major complications.
The morning, residents were displaced in different buses to a health center in Huesca. Paquita Morata, head of the ARADE Residence Association, indicated that special care was taken to ensure that residents were taken care of by the usual staff. “All the staff of the residence will also be transferred so that they can be taken care of by those who usually accompany them,” Morata said.
In addition, the municipal council allowed a point of psychological attention to provide support to family members who lost loved ones in the fire. “There are three colleagues from the town hall who take care of the relatives, and two psychologists from the College of Psychologists of Aragon are present here at the residence, in addition to my voluntary intervention,” explained one of the psychologists.
