Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has said he is "shocked by tragedy" after officials reported a fire killed 10 people in a home for the elderly and people with mental health issues in northeastern Spain.
A senior firefighter said a fire door had prevented the blaze from spreading and a regional official praised the fast reaction of care home staff in evacuating residents.
A senior figure at the group running the home said the fire had probably been started by someone smoking.
Another two people were critically injured in the fire.
The fire, at the Jardines de Villafranca residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro, broke out in the early hours of the morning, the emergency services for the Aragon region said on X.
There were 69 residents and two workers inside at the time, revising downward an early figure of 82 people inside.
Firefighters were able to quickly bring the fire under control.
They said the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation.
The fire had been concentrated in one room due to a security door, but smoke spread throughout the residence, mayor of the town Volga Ramirez Gamiz told reporters.
"There was a lot of smoke, outside too, you couldn't even breathe," she said, explaining that she had rushed to the facility with her husband to help with the evacuations.
"We got everyone out who was alive before the fire brigade arrived," Ms Gamiz said, adding that "only the dead were left inside".
The 57 residents who survived and were uninjured were taken to another care home.
'Caught in the smoke'
The facility was opened in 2008 as a home for the elderly, but recently had started taking in people with mental health issues.
Many of the residents had "mobility problems", which made it difficult to evacuate them quickly, Ms Gamiz said.
All of the victims were residents of the facility, head of the Aragon government Jorge Azcón said.
"I think that the two workers at the residence heard the alarm and acted - I think they did an extraordinary job," he added.
Mr Azcón also declared a day of mourning.
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Eduardo Sanchez, firefighter chief from the nearby city of Zaragoza, told reporters many of the residents "were in bed, unable to move. They were caught in the smoke".
But half of the building was spared by the fire thanks to a fire door, he added.
Investigators are still looking at what might have caused the fire, but the director of the association running the residence, Paquita Morata, said "it was probably caused by someone smoking in a room".
Staffing issues
Ángel Víctor Torres, minister in charge of cooperation with Spain's regions, suggested a lack of staff at the residence at the time of the blaze might have played a role in the death toll.
It is important "that the residences have a different format and undoubtedly these are issues that should also make us all think and reconsider," he told Spanish public television.
"Undoubtedly what we cannot have is cutbacks when talking about the elderly, because ... they have difficulty in any situation to be able to move," he added.
The Spanish Prime Minister said he was "shocked by the tragedy", wishing the injured a speedy recovery.
Spain has suffered other deadly fires in nursing homes in recent years.
In February, three people were killed by fire in a nursing home in Madrid and in January 2022 another nine people died in a nursing home in Moncada, in the eastern region of Valencia.
