The Town Hall of Maracena has declared three days of mourning for the family that perished in a house fire Friday morning - there was only one survivor.
Three people were in the house when the fire broke out; a mother, father and adult son – only the father made it out alive.
The 54-year-old mother appeared on the upstairs balcony calling for help but succumbed to the smoke and died from smoke inhalation.
The 22-year-old son had been on the lower floor where the fire began and died in the flames, unable to get out.
It was the 54-year-old father who made it out onto the street, badly burnt and had to be restrained by the police from going back in to rescue his wife. He was rushed to hospital and put in the ICU ward but is said to be responding to treatment favourably.
The only other member of the family, a daughter, no longer lived with her parents and learned of the incident that same day
It was around nine in the morning when neighbours on Calle Gómez de la Serna had seen flames coming out of the building and who alerted the fire service. Flames were so intense that it was impossible to get through the front door even.
The fire-service spokesperson explained that when they arrived the flames were already engulfing both floors, probably because a door or window had been opened and this had fed oxygen to the flames. It was the speed of the advance of the flames that prevented the mother and son getting out. A dog and cat also perished in the fire.
A small electric heater (of the type placed under a table draped with a thick tablecloth) or a stove is thought to have been the cause of the fire.
(News: Maracena, Vega de Granada, Granada, Andalucia)