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At Least 10 Killed in Nursing Home Fire in Northern Spain

Members of the emergency services and relatives gather outside of a retirement home which caught fire, in Villafranca de Ebro, Zaragoza province, Spain, 15 November 2024. EPA/JAVIER CEBOLLADA
Members of the emergency services and relatives gather outside of a retirement home which caught fire, in Villafranca de Ebro, Zaragoza province, Spain, 15 November 2024. EPA/JAVIER CEBOLLADA
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At Least 10 Killed in Nursing Home Fire in Northern Spain

Members of the emergency services and relatives gather outside of a retirement home which caught fire, in Villafranca de Ebro, Zaragoza province, Spain, 15 November 2024. EPA/JAVIER CEBOLLADA
Members of the emergency services and relatives gather outside of a retirement home which caught fire, in Villafranca de Ebro, Zaragoza province, Spain, 15 November 2024. EPA/JAVIER CEBOLLADA

A fire ripped through a retirement home in the town of Villafranca del Ebro in northern Spain early on Friday, killing at least 10 people, the regional government of Aragon said.
The blaze started in a residence for elderly called "Jardines de Villafranca" around 5 a.m. and it took a couple of hours for firefighters to put it out, a spokesperson for the regional government said.
The spokesperson could not specify whether all the victims were residents of the retirement home, where 82 elderly people lived.
One person was in a critical condition, while several people are under care mainly for suffering from smoke inhalation.
Firefighters, who came from the area of Zaragoza, a city 35 km away, ambulances and police are on site, he said. The cause of the fire was still being investigated.
Jorge Azcon, head of the regional government of Aragon, whose capital city is Zaragoza, confirmed the deaths and said on X, formerly Twitter, that all government events in the region were cancelled for the day.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez also expressed shock over the fire and deaths.
The fire took place just weeks after devastating flash floods in Valencia killed more than 200 people and destroyed thousands of homes. The floods were the worst natural disaster in Spain's recent history.

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Freed Spanish Hostage Set to Land in Algerian Air Base

Gilbert Navarro, a Spanish national who was kidnapped in south Algeria and transported by his captors to north Mali, is handed over to the Algerian authorities after he was freed by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on the outskirts of Tinzaouaten, Mali, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/ Abdolah Ag Mohamed Purchase Licensing Rights
Gilbert Navarro, a Spanish national who was kidnapped in south Algeria and transported by his captors to north Mali, is handed over to the Algerian authorities after he was freed by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on the outskirts of Tinzaouaten, Mali, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/ Abdolah Ag Mohamed Purchase Licensing Rights
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Freed Spanish Hostage Set to Land in Algerian Air Base

Gilbert Navarro, a Spanish national who was kidnapped in south Algeria and transported by his captors to north Mali, is handed over to the Algerian authorities after he was freed by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on the outskirts of Tinzaouaten, Mali, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/ Abdolah Ag Mohamed Purchase Licensing Rights
Gilbert Navarro, a Spanish national who was kidnapped in south Algeria and transported by his captors to north Mali, is handed over to the Algerian authorities after he was freed by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), on the outskirts of Tinzaouaten, Mali, January 21, 2025. REUTERS/ Abdolah Ag Mohamed Purchase Licensing Rights

A plane carrying Spanish hostage Gilbert Navarro, who was kidnapped in North Africa on Jan. 17, was expected to land in Algeria's Boufarik air base, Algerian state media reported on Tuesday.
His expected arrival at the Algerian air base comes after a Tuareg rebel alliance in northern Mali said late on Monday they had released Navarro, Reuters said.
Spain's Foreign Ministry said on Friday that a Spanish man had been kidnapped in North Africa.
El Pais newspaper reported that the man was kidnapped in southern Algeria by an
extremist group and taken to Mali, though the Foreign Ministry did not confirm that information.
In a post on X, one of the leaders of the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) said Spanish national Gilbert Navarro "kidnapped in Algeria a few days ago" and transported by his captors to north Mali had been freed by FLA forces on Monday. An FLA spokesperson, Mohamed Elmaouloud Ramadane, said on X that the FLA had freed Navarro, who was in good health, and that more details would follow.
The Spanish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Spain is in a dispute between Morocco and Algeria over the Western Sahara, which was controlled by Spain until 1975 and is now claimed by Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks its independence.