READ UPDATE: Electric car is revealed as cause of deadly Madrid garage blaze
TWO firefighters have died and a third is fighting for his life after a car park in Madrid ‘exploded’ and became an underground inferno on Wednesday.
The third was in intubated with severe burns and was in critical condition overnight after also suffering from smoke inhalation, while more than a dozen others required treatment.
According to the Summa 112 emergency service, one of the firefighters died of a cardiac arrest while being transferred to Getafe University Hospital, while a second was found dead inside the car park.
A car is believed to have exploded inside the garage in Alcorcon, in the southern half of the Madrid region. Reports that the vehicle was an electric car cannot yet be confirmed, Policia Nacional said.
The driver has been transferred to hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
The fire broke out just before 4pm in the Las Retamas neighbourhood, with locals placed into ‘lockdown’ due to the seriousness of the incident.
Witnesses told Spanish news agency Efe that they believe a resident drove into the garage moments before an explosion was heard, ‘as if a car had crashed into another’ and caused a blast.
The loud noise sparked a panic and saw residents flee their homes.
Police sources told Europa Press that a vehicle likely crashed into the car park’s gate before colliding with other parked vehicles.
It then set on fire, which spread to other vehicles in the car park, of which at least seven are completely torched.
The garage has been sealed off while firefighters continue to monitor the scene following the fire’s extinction.
Police were seen guarding the entrance to the car park on Wednesday night.
Local mayor Candelaria Testa and government minister Francisco Martín have already visited the scene.
