Two agents of the National Police jumped from a ledge on the sixth floor of a building in Torremolinos to save a 49-year-old woman trapped in the flames. The victim suffers severe burns and is hospitalized at the Regional Hospital.
Two national police officers risked their lives on Friday night in Torremolinos by jumping from an exterior ledge to rescue a woman trapped in a burning attic. The 49-year-old victim remains hospitalized at the Regional Hospital with severe burns, but the officers managed to keep her alive until emergency services arrived.
The rescue from the sixth-floor ledge
The events occurred around 8:30 PM in a building in the coastal town. The first patrol of the National Police that arrived at the scene encountered a thick column of black smoke coming from the residence. Before attempting to enter, the officers had to evacuate the neighbours, guiding them to a safe exit as debris and glass began to fall from the upper part of the building.
Once the block was empty, the police heard the cries for help from a woman trapped inside. From the communal terrace, they managed to see her partially: she was lying by the threshold of the burning home, with part of her body burned, while fire and dense smoke enveloped the terrace. Access from the inside was practically impossible due to a fence separating the two terraces and the violence of the fire.
According to police sources, both officers concluded that the victim could lose consciousness or even her life within seconds due to smoke inhalation and the advance of the flames. It was then that they decided to take the greatest risk: to access a narrow exterior ledge, very slippery and with hardly any grip.
One of them had to be held by his partner to prevent him from falling before jumping from that ledge to the attic terrace, saving a height of approximately two metres. Immediately after, the second officer repeated the same manoeuvre. Both fell into the interior of the burning terrace, putting their lives at risk, as a loss of balance would have meant falling from the sixth floor. During the jump, they sustained injuries.
They crossed the flames to reach the victim
Once inside, the officers crossed the flames to reach the woman. One of the agents managed to grab her and pull her a few metres away from the fire's source, while the other tried to contain the flames with a hose provided by several neighbours to prevent the fire from reaching the victim and facilitate her evacuation. Once they managed to get her out of danger, both continued trying to extinguish the fire while staying in contact with the 091 control room to coordinate the arrival of the rest of the emergency services.
A team of firefighters later completed the rescue of the victim, who was evacuated to be treated by the 061. Due to the severity of her burns, she was sedated before being transferred to the Regional Hospital. The two police officers also needed medical assistance and had to receive oxygen due to respiratory difficulties from smoke inhalation, in addition to being treated for the injuries sustained during the jump.
According to the same police sources, both the firefighters and the medical personnel stated that the woman owed her life to the speed of their intervention, despite the great risk both took by entering a home completely engulfed in flames.
A context of fires on the Costa del Sol
This incident comes just days after a fire in a home in the neighbouring town of Fuengirola forced the evacuation of the entire affected building, as well as the two adjacent ones as a precaution. In that case, the Town Hall reported that about 40 people were evacuated, although they were able to return to their homes gradually.
For the residents of Torremolinos, the swift action of the officers has been a cause for gratitude and relief. The rescued woman remains hospitalized at the Regional Hospital, where doctors are assessing her progress. The two police officers, after receiving medical attention, are out of danger and have been discharged. The fire, the causes of which are still under investigation, forced the evacuation of the building and mobilised a large emergency response.
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