JAIME REINA / AFP
Firefighters respond to the collapse of a restaurant in Palma de Mallorca on May 24, 2024.
INTERNATIONAL – A toll that could rise. Four people died and around twenty others injured this Thursday, May 23 in the collapse of a restaurant located on the island of Majorca in the Spanish archipelago of the Balearic Islands, emergency services said.
“There are four dead and 21 injured to varying degrees”, a spokesperson for the archipelago’s emergency services told AFP. Some of the injured are in serious condition and people of “several nationalities” are among the victims, she said, without being able to give more details. Several people are still trapped under the rubble, according to a Canadian journalist in Spain.
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The tragedy occurred at the end of the day in the tourist area of Playa de Palma when “the roof of a two-story building” housing a restaurant, collapsed, explained the spokesperson for the emergency services. This area is located south of Palma de Mallorca, the capital of the island of Mallorca.
Many firefighters were deployed on the scene while ambulances transported the injured to the hospital, an AFP photographer noted on site.
Very touristy area
Rescue services “continue to work on site” to check if victims are not still trapped under the rubble, they said in a message published on the social network X. The street was cordoned off by the police to allow rescuers to work.
The reasons for the collapse of this restaurant, located on Cartago Street in Playa de Palma, are currently unknown, but according to witnesses cited by local media, the roof collapsed on part of the first floor.
This area was very busy at the end of the day when the tourist season is already in full swing in the Balearic Islands, an archipelago also including the islands of Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera.
In a message on X, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said “follow closely the consequences of the terrible collapse that occurred on Palma beach”.
The Balearic Islands, located in the Mediterranean Sea and known for their crystal clear waters and beaches, are the second most touristy region in Spain after Catalonia. In 2023, they welcomed more than 14 million tourists, according to official figures. The archipelago, of which Majorca is the main island, is particularly popular with German and British tourists
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