Four dead and 27 injured after beach club collapses in Majorca
A two-storey building collapsed on the beach in Palma killing at least four people and injuring 27 others in a tourism hot spot.
Firefighters rushed to the scene with at least ten feared trapped in the wreckage of the Medusa Beach Club - a restaurant popular with foreign tourists.
Public television for the Balearic Islands, IB3, reported there were people dancing on a terrace that collapsed on top of another floor underneath at about 8.30pm local time on Thursday.
The broadcaster added the emergency services were begging for the busy strip to fall silent so they could listen out for anyone still trapped in the rubble.
The authorities did not specify the nationalities of the victims or the cause of the collapse on Thursday night. But the death toll could rise.
Hundreds of people were held back at a police cordon with the high tourist season strip of the Balearic island off the coast of Spain.
Images from the scene show victims being taken away by stretcher and loaded into ambulances. Bodies are seen covered in silver blankets.
Raul, a worker from the shop next door to the devastated club, told CadenaSER: “Everything fell, completely.
“It was very loud and there were a lot of people inside.
“A very loud sound was heard. There were people eating, people upstairs... the top floor fell.”
Majorca Daily reported that one of the club’s security guards was feared among the dead as well as two tourists.
Local reports suggest the terrace on the first floor collapsed, sinking the ground floor under it into the basement of the building.
The mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, and the deputy mayor, Javier Bonet, both went to the scene to speak with the emergency teams.
“I am closely following the consequences of the terrible collapse that occurred on the beach of Palma,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X.
Sanchez said he had spoken to local and regional authorities, adding the government is ready to help “with all the means and troops that are necessary.”
“I want to send my condolences to the families of the deceased and my wish for a speedy recovery to the injured,” he said.
Marga Prohens, President of the Balearic Islands, said on X she was “shocked” to hear of the building collapse.
“All my affection and warmth to the families of the four people who lost their lives in this tragic incident and wishing the recovery of all the injured,” she said.
Rescuers are evacuating the injured through the back of the bar-restaurant, which faces Trasimé Street, on the main tourist strip of Palma.