SPAIN: Eighteen friends, who rented a Spanish mountain hostel for a birthday party, were found dead yesterday, apparently due to a gas leak, officials said.
It was the worst death toll in a gas leak in Spain in at least 15 years, Spanish media said.
The bodies were found at the Sant Cristofol hostel near the picturesque medieval village of La Todolella, some 300 km (180 miles) east of Madrid.
About 50 people, all from the local area, had gone to the birthday party at the hostel on Saturday night and the dead, reported to be aged between 18 and 40, had stayed the night.
"The information we have . . . is that we are talking about 18 young people," said a senior government representative in the region, Mr Juan María Calles, on state radio.
He said the tragedy was "probably due to a gas leak or gas inhalation".
A judge was on his way to the remote stone hostel to oversee the recovery of the bodies, he said.
The head of the Valencia regional government, Mr Francisco Camps, was also on his way to La Todolella, a village of 140 people, and psychologists were sent to help relatives deal with the shock.
Police had sealed off the forest track leading to the hostel, according to journalists at the scene.
The Sant Cristofol hostel is a 15th century building often used as a base for hiking, mountain biking and riding. - (Reuters)