Four people have died and 27 have been injured in the collapse of a bar-restaurant in Playa de Palma, an important tourist center in Mallorca, when the premises were full of customers.
Most of the victims in the collapse of the ‘beach club’ are foreign customers who were dining and drinking when the first floor of this establishment collapsed late this Thursday afternoon.
The security forces confirmed the provisional toll of victims at midnight while emergency teams remained at the site of the sinking trying to definitively rule out the existence of more people under the rubble of the ‘Medusa Beach Club’.
On the first line of Playa de Palma
The incident occurred in an establishment located at number 35 Cartago Street, on the seafront of the main tourist area of the Balearic capital, whose clients are mainly foreign visitors.
Agents from the National Police, the Palma firefighters, the Local Police and the 061 health emergency service traveled to the scene, mobilizing more than twenty ambulances to evacuate the injured to the city’s hospitals.
The collapse was caused by the fall of the first floor structure onto the ground floor, which in turn collapsed onto the basement, meaning that it affected two floors.
During the rescue efforts, those responsible for the operation asked, in Spanish and English, complete silence from the hundreds of tourists and citizens gathered around the damaged establishment in case any noise could reveal the presence of trapped victims.
In the damaged premises, according to witnesses, there were numerous customers, many of them foreign tourists, since the high season has already begun in Playa de Palma, an area that mainly attracts German visitors.
The head of the Palma firefighters, Eder García, explained that in a first inspection the overload of the first floor has been established as a possible cause of the collapse.
Three days of mourning
The identities and ages of the deceased and injured are already known, although it has not yet been determined whether they are employees or tourists who were enjoying this place next to the sea. First of all, their families will be informed.
The balance until midnight was four dead, seven very seriously injured and nine seriously injured, according to the 112 emergency coordination center.
The City Council of Palma, the Balearic capital, decreed three days of mourning in the city.
In addition to the local authorities, relatives of the beach club workers came to the scene of the tragedy to inquire about their condition.
The president of the Balearic Government, Marga Prohens, the mayor of the Balearic capital, Jaime Martínez, and the Senior Chief of Police of the Balearic Islands, José Luis Santafé, followed the intervention of the emergency forces on the ground, and municipal technicians made a first emergency assessment of the condition of the building.
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, spoke with the President of the Balearic Islands, Marga Prohens, and with the Mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, to offer them the Executive’s collaboration.
Due to the tragedy, PP and PSOE have suspended their first campaign events for the European elections scheduled for this Friday in the Balearic Islands.
BY: Nadeem Faisal Baiga
