At least 8 people died and dozens were injured in a fire that engulfed a community center in northern Portugal.
The fire in Vila Nova da Rainha was caused after an explosion in the boiler and according to the mayor Jose Antonio Jesus, more than 60 people were in the center. He said that the cultural and artistic center was one of the most frequented in the area. The flames spread rapidly creating a large amount of carbon monoxide.
Vila Nova da Rainha is located near the town of Tondela, about 260 northeast of Lisbon. The injured are 35 according to local media, 6 of them in serious condition.
The newspaper “Diário de Notícias” reported that the glass wool material on the roof of the building may have influenced the rapid spread of flames in the two-story building.
Thick smoke may have disoriented people as they tried to flee in panic. One of the survivors told local media that many people had fallen on top of each other on the stairs. Dozens of firefighters were engaged in extinguishing the flames.
LISBON, Portugal (AP) — At least eight people died and dozens were injured, some seriously, after a heater exploded and started a fire late Saturday at the packed premises of a local residents’ association in the north of Portugal, officials said.
A wood-burning stove exploded in the two-story building in the town of Tondela, around 250 kilometers (150 miles) north of the Portuguese capital of Lisbon, local mayor Jose Gomes Jesus told reporters.
Civil Protection Agency commander Paulo Santos told local radio station TSF that at least 50 people were injured.
Witnesses speaking to local television channels said the fire caused panic among the roughly 60 people in the building who were taking part in an evening amateur card tournament. They said people crowded the exits as thick smoke filled the building. Dozens of fire crews and two rescue helicopters were at the scene taking the injured to hospital.