Firefighters try to control the flames of a fire at a nightclub in Murcia, Spain, October 1, 2023. MURCIA FIREFIGHTERS / VIA Portal
At least seven people died in a fire at a nightclub in Murcia, southeastern Spain, on Sunday morning, October 1st. This number could rise: police and fire departments continue to search for bodies in the rubble.
“The death toll now stands at seven who died in the fire. “The firefighters continue to work on site and do not rule out the possibility of finding new victims,” said the emergency services on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Firefighters were alerted around 6 a.m. that a fire had broken out at a nightclub in the Atalayas district of Murcia and also reported four people injured, two of whom were taken to hospital. They were able to enter the nightclub around 10 a.m. “after the fire was put out” and discovered “four bodies,” then two more about forty minutes later.
An hour later, Murcia City Hall announced that the death toll was now seven and that investigations were continuing. Four people were also injured – two women aged 22 and 25 and two men aged 41 and 45 – after inhaling smoke.
“The search for the bodies in the building has priority,” said a state police spokesman. “Forensic police and firefighters are continuing to search for possible missing persons as there was a birthday party last night and not all participants have been found,” she continued. He added: “The investigation has not started yet as the results are not yet clear. Therefore, there is currently no preferred path.”
“According to initial information, the fire started on the first floor of the nightclub, which consists of a ground floor and a first floor, and that is where the fire appears to have started,” Diego Seral, the local spokesman for the National Police, told Onda radio Regional in Murcia.
Three days of mourning in memory of the victims
According to the authorities, twelve emergency vehicles, forty firefighters and around twenty police officers were needed to extinguish the flames. According to the photos released by the emergency services, it is the Teatre nightclub whose facade – which was yellow and red – was burning.
The mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta, declared a three-day mourning in memory of the victims and the municipality set up a reception cell for their relatives at the Atalayas Sports Palace. “I am truly sorry and I want to accompany the families of the victims of the fire in Murcia this morning in their pain. All my appreciation and thanks go to the emergency services,” commented the leader of the right, Alberto Nuñez Feijoo. At. In 1990, 43 people died in a fire at a nightclub in Zaragoza, in the northeast of the country.
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