THE BEST FINANCE NEWS ON PAGES 18 21 Issue No. 28 (1996)
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NEWSPAPER IN SPAIN 5 - 11 October 2023
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TRAGEDY STRIKES MURCIA
ON the fateful morning of Oc tober 1, at 6am, the city of Murcia was jolted awake by a series of frantic calls to the Emergency Coordination Centre. The callers reported a raging fire consuming three nightclubs in the Atalayas area. Murcia’s brave firefight ers rushed to the scene, bat tling fierce flames that threat ened lives and property. Efforts to quell the inferno were nothing short of heroic. By 10 am, the fire had been extinguished, but not before leaving behind a trail of dev astation. Tragically, 13 souls per ished in the blaze, which pri marily affected the Fonda Mi lagros, Teatre, and Golden nightclubs. The fire spread rapidly through the upper floors, causing the ceiling to collapse in the Fonda Mila gros, where nine bodies were recovered. The heroic fire fighters worked tirelessly in perilous conditions to recover victims. Preliminary investiga tions point to a slow combus tion, with possible causes be ing a short circuit or a flare. The fire’s gradual onset made escape difficult for pa trons as the fire had spread and was quite extensive be fore they became aware. The mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta, explained that the area where the first bodies found were concentrated was in ‘danger of collapse’, so it had to be shored up. “The extraction work is ex hausting, the firefighters go out and lie on the ground with oxygen, and they have to drink water because it is a lot of work.” One of the girls trapped inside sent an audio to her parents to say good bye ‘Mami, la amo; vamos a morir’ (Mommy, I love you; We are going to die). The message that no par
Images: X/Bomberos Murcia, 112 Murcia
Catherine McGeer
MURCIA MOURNS: A city united in grief.
ent ever wants to hear reached Jairo, father of Leidy Paola, one of those who dis appeared after the fire, at 6.06 in the morning. Screams and voices from other pa trons of the nightclub urging someone to light up the area can also be heard in the back ground of the audio. At the Palacio de Deporte, five psy chologists and 20 Red Cross professionals assisted fami lies and friends of the victims, as well as four Semas work ers, who took over in case it was necessary to continue providing assistance. In the investigation, they
subsequently discovered that in January 2022, an order to cease activity was issued to the club and when Deputy Mayor Antonio Navarro was asked if an internal investiga tion was going to be opened as to why these premises were not closed due to this file, Councillor Navarro as sured that there absolutely will be. Four of the five people who were missing from the Las Atalayas fire in Murcia were found alive on Monday, October 2. Fernando Lopez Miras the president of the region met
with the families of the de ceased and afterwards said “There are no words that de scribe this much pain.” A minute’s silence was held in Murcia on October 2 for the victims of the fire and a three day mourning period in the region was also announced with many bars, and clubs closing during this period to show their respect to the vic tims and their families. The president of the feder ation, Jesús Jiménez, pointed out that it is the only measure they can take since “It is not the day to open our doors be cause our hearts are broken.”