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Firefighters at the scene in Murcia AP

At least thirteen people killed in nightclub fire in Spain

The mayor of Murcia, Jose Ballesta, announced three days of mourning.

LAST UPDATE | 1 Oct 2023

AT LEAST THIRTEEN people were killed in a fire in a Spanish nightclub this morning, authorities said, with rescue efforts still ongoing.

Emergency services said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that firefighters were continuing to work at the scene and had not ruled out “the possibility of finding more victims.”

Rescuers said they were first alerted at around 6:00 am local time that a fire had broken out in the two-storey nightclub.

They finally managed to enter around four hours later and discovered four bodies, then two others around forty minutes later. An hour later, the Murcia town hall confirmed the toll had risen to seven.

According to photos released by emergency services, the fire broke out in the “Teatre” nightclub, also called “Fonda Milagros”. The photos showed water hoses from fire trucks still spraying the blackened facade of the club.

Thick smoke could be seen billowing from the roof of the building.

Mayor of Murcia Jose Ballesta told press at the scene that “there are still bodies to be pulled out” from the rubble, which he said was a complicated task given the “risk of collapse”.

A police spokesperson said that a birthday party was being held at the club last night, and warned that not all the attendees had yet been found.

“According to initial information, the fire broke out on the first floor of the nightclub, which has a ground floor and a first floor,” Diego Seral, the national police spokesman told radio Onda Regional de Murcia.

Birthday party 

Video footage released by the city’s firefighting brigade shows the firefighters holding a long hose approaching bright orange flames inside the venue, walking between bar tables that still have drinks placed on top of them.

“Emergency services are still hard at work to put out the fire that occurred in the Teatre nightclub,” the city’s town hall said, adding it “deeply regrets” the accident and offering condolences to those affected.

Four others were injured in the blaze, two women aged 22 and 25 years old and two men in their forties, all suffering from smoke inhalation.

The mayor of Murcia, Jose Ballesta, announced three days of mourning.

He said more than 40 firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles were attending the scene.

Forty people were injured in 2017 in a packed nightclub on Spain’s holiday island of Tenerife when a floor collapsed.

The injured were from countries including France, Britain, Romania and Belgium.

And in 1990, 43 people died in a fire at a nightclub in Spain’s northeastern city of Zaragoza.

- © AFP 2023 

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    Mute David Chadwick
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    Feb 14th 2023, 1:58 PM

    Pity he wouldnt dismiss himself !

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    Mute Gregson from the Block
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    Feb 14th 2023, 2:14 PM

    1 thing. Name me 1 single good thing that Eamonn Ryan has ever done for Irish people?

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    Feb 14th 2023, 2:35 PM

    @Gregson from the Block: emmmm!, emmmmm. I’ll get back to you.

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    Mute Shane Lad
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    Feb 14th 2023, 7:07 PM

    @Gregson from the Block: he gave us all a good laugh there a while ago when he fell asleep in Leinster house

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    Feb 14th 2023, 10:13 PM

    @Gregson from the Block: He and his party, the “Green” movement and many scientists have been banging on about Energy security & switching to renewables for donkeys years… It’s one thing that could be “good for the Irish people”…. Not good but great!!! Sadly it’s taken Putin to focus our minds a little bit…. Maybe if we all listened to Eamo all those years ago & opened our minds then it would be easy to answer your question!!!!!!

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    Mute Nicholas Grubb
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    Feb 15th 2023, 9:38 AM

    Time now for IFI to be amalgamated with Wildlife, Forestry and indeed the enforcement end of Agriculture. All at present a big, big, mess.

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