New Delhi: At least 13 people were killed in a devastating fire that erupted at a nightclub in Murcia, Spain, during the early hours of Sunday. The incident took place at the two-story “Teatre” nightclub, also known as “Fonda Milagros.”
According to authorities, the toll could rise further as rescue workers sift through the debris, reported news agency AFP.
In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, Emergency services said that firefighters were continuing to work at the scene and had not ruled out “the possibility of finding more victims.”
More than 40 firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles were attending the scene, authorities said.
Murcia’s mayor Jose Ballesta said the fire had broken out at around 6:00 am and was “extremely serious”.
Speaking to the media, he said that “there are still bodies to be pulled out” from the rubble, which he said was a complicated task given the “risk of collapse,” according to AFP.
“I think we left 30 seconds to 1 minute before the alarms went off and all the lights went out (and) the screams saying there was a fire,” one survivor, who was not identified, told Reuters.
Diego Seral, of Spain’s National Police, told reporters the dead were found in the Fonda nightclub, one of three adjoining clubs, which had sustained the majority of fire damage, including the collapse of its roof, he added.
The collapse was making it difficult to locate victims, and it was difficult to pinpoint yet where exactly the fire started, he said.
A spokesperson for the Teatre nightclub, Maria Dolores Albellan, told reporters the fire originated in the neighbouring club, La Fonda, before spreading to the two adjoining clubs, reported Reuters.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez voiced “solidarity with the victims and relatives of the tragic fire in a Murcia nightclub”.
Ballesta declared three days of mourning for those who had died. Flags were lowered to half-mast outside Murcia’s City Hall.