Tragedy in Playa de Palma, Spain: restaurant collapse leaves 4 dead and 16 injured

Four people died and 16 were seriously injured. in the collapse of a bar-restaurant in Playa de Palma, an important tourist center on the Mediterranean island of Mallorca (east), when the premises were full of customers.

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Most of those injured and killed in the beach club collapse are foreign clients who were having dinner and drinking when the first floor of this establishment collapsed late in the afternoon of this Thursday, May 23, 2024.

The security forces confirmed the provisional toll of victims at midnight while the emergency teams were still at the site of the sinking trying to definitively rule out that there were no more people under the rubble of the ‘Medusa Beach Club’.

The collapse 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, that is, affecting 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.

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.

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 toll until midnight was four dead, seven very seriously injured and nine seriously injured.as reported by the 112 emergency coordination center.

Initially it was reported that almost thirty people were injured.

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.

In the damaged premises, according to witnesses, There were numerous clients, many of them foreign tourists, since the high season has already begun in Playa de Palma, an area that mainly attracts German visitors..

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 collaboration they need to confront the tragedy.

Due to the tragedy, the PP and PSOE parties suspended their first electoral events this Friday in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands on the occasion of the European elections that will be held on June 9.

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