22 in hospital, one in critical condition, following fierce apartment block fire in Bilbao

The fire broke out at around 1am. According to sources, it started in the bedroom of one of the flats, but forced the evacuation not only of the affected building but also of two nearby blocks of flats.

Bilbao councillor for safety Amaia Arregi, who attended the scene alongside Mayor Juan Mari Aburto, confirmed that the causes of the fire were accidental but are currently under investigation.

In fact, the most seriously injured person is the woman who was found in the bedroom where the fire had started. She lives with her husband, but was alone at the time of the incident. She has suffered burns over much of her body and face.

Her husband had travelled to Madrid for work and returned to Bilbao as soon as he was notified. In the early hours of the morning, he went straight to Cruces hospital and then returned to his home. There, overcome with grief, he saw for himself that it had been completely destroyed.

"I was at work and my wife was home alone. I don't know what happened. The whole house has burnt down… I don't know," he said, visibly shaken. He preferred not to give his name or provide further details. The couple, who are of Romanian origin, bought the flat in 2004. They have been gradually renovating it. Just last week they had the boiler replaced. They are much loved in the neighbourhood.

The ferocity with which the fire raged has shocked locals. There were scenes of panic and the municipal and regional police had to intervene to prevent the relatives of the occupants of one of the affected flats from entering the building.

According to municipal sources, 47 people received treatment at the scene. A total of 25 were discharged on the spot, but 22 people are currently receiving medical treatment at various hospitals.

Among the injured were a police officer and a firefighter, who had fallen down the stairs and sustained a serious bruise to his knee.

The number of victims is striking. Ignacio García Urkizo, head of operations at the Bilbao fire brigade, spoke to the media on Friday morning and confirmed that, by the time the first crews arrived, many residents had already left the building. He said that this "is understandable, but a mistake nonetheless".

"The stairwell acted as a chimney and everyone who came out was overcome by fumes. It is understandable and we must empathise with the people who tried to escape," he stated. He added that "people were coming out completely blackened".

Bilbao city council deployed five fire crews to put out the flames. It took them almost three hours. They declared the operation over at 4am, but went back shortly after 8.30am because there were areas with smouldering embers.

Of those evacuated, only one family (a mother with two children) spent the night at the municipal emergency accommodation centre. The rest were able to spend the night with relatives.

Santi, who lives next door to the flat where the fire broke out, said he went through some terrifying moments. "I was at home when we started hearing banging and our neighbour shouting 'Help, help, fire, fire'. It was horrific. We didn't get a wink of sleep," he said.

"The fire brigade and ambulances arrived straight away. Very quickly, to be honest. They told us to stay inside because my wife has mobility issues and that's what we did," he explained.

Despite what he'd been through, duty called and Santi left his home to go to work. However, an hour later he returned. "I realised I'm not in the right frame of mind to work today after everything that's happened."

Manuel was one of the first local residents to arrive at the scene. Early in the morning, he heard the news of the fire. "We don't live here. We're furnishing the flat so my daughter can move in and I wanted to see if there'd been much damage," he explained before entering the property. After spending a while inside, he came out feeling more relieved: "Everything's fine."

Other people who also don't live in the building went there because they own some of the storage rooms on the ground floor of the block. "I've come to check if there is any damage, but luckily everything's fine," one of them said.

Others went to just check on their neighbours. In the middle of the night, Marieli was startled by the sound of ambulances. "I heard a commotion and went to the window overlooking this street. There were lots of ambulances and a lot of people rushing about, but you could hardly see the street because of all the smoke. There was a huge amount of very black smoke billowing out."

Some of the injured residents have already returned home. Ana, an elderly woman who lives opposite the flat that was destroyed by the fire, got home at around 8am. "I'm going to get some money. I haven't got any on me," she explained as she entered the building with an envelope in her hand, rushing to pay the taxi driver who had brought her back.

"I was just about to go to bed when I saw smoke coming in under the door," she explained.

Still in her pyjamas and slippers, she barely had time to grab a coat. She saw a terrible cloud of smoke upon leaving her flat. "The firefighters rushed me out and took me to an ambulance because I'd inhaled smoke. I spent the night in hospital and, to be honest, they looked after me very well."

Meanwhile, Luisa Gallego, a resident of the building opposite, said that just after 12.30am she heard shouting in the street and went to the window. "There was a tremendous cloud of smoke and the police were shouting at residents to close our windows. It was chaos. What's more, as these streets are narrow, the firefighters had trouble deploying the ladder," she explained.

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