The roof of a restaurant in the Balearic island of Mallorca collapsed on Thursday evening, killing four people and injuring 21 others, local authorities said.
‘There are four dead and around 21 injured,’ an emergency services spokeswoman said, adding that ‘several nationalities’ were among the victims.
The emergency services wrote on social media platform X that seven of the victims were in a ‘very serious’ state and nine others had ‘serious’ injuries, with different hospitals admitting them.
The two-storey building of the Medusa ‘restaurant beach club’ collapsed early evening on Thursday in the Playa de Palma area to the south of Palma de Mallorca.
Firefighters were deployed in number, while ambulances whisked the victims to hospital and the street was sealed off by police to allow rescue teams to go about their work. Rescuers continued to work at the scene during the night to find further people stuck under the rubble.
The exact cause of the collapse remained unknown. Spanish media has reported that the venue had recently announced that it had a new roof terrace.
One firefighter described a ‘nightmarish’ scene to the newspaper Ultima Hora, saying that when he arrived, people were crying and screaming around the rubble piled up on the ground floor.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez conveyed his condolences to the victims’ families on X, saying he was ‘closely following the consequences of the terrible collapse’.
The central government was prepared to send ‘all the necessary resources’ to help the regional authorities cope, he added.
Sánchez said he had spoken to the president of the Balearic Islands region, and to the mayor of Palma de Mallorca.
Balearic Islands President Marga Prohens said on X that she was ‘shocked’ by the news, adding she was sending ‘love and warmth to the families of the four people who have lost their lives’.
Mallorca is known for its pristine waters and beaches, and the Balearic Islands attract more tourists than all Spanish regions after Catalonia. More than 14 million tourists visited the islands last year, according to official figures.
Thursday’s collapse took place at the start of the archipelago’s high tourist season, on a beachfront avenue home to several shops and entertainment venues.
The 2009 collapse of a three-story building in Palma de Mallorca killed seven people, including two Germans and three Colombians.
Seguint amb preocupació la darrera hora de l’esfondrament a Platja de Palma.
— Marga Prohens (@MargaProhens) May 23, 2024
El meu suport als cossos d’@Emergencies_112 @BombersPalma @policiadepalma @SAMU061IB i el meu ànim a ferits i familiars. https://t.co/5PPMAoXBkz
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