questions and answers
Holiday island in shock: What we know so far about the fatal collapse on Mallorca
Major operation on Mallorca: Rescue workers search the rubble of the collapsed restaurant on the Playa de Palma.
© Isaac Buj/EUROPA PRESS / DPA
Four people die when a popular restaurant collapses on Mallorca, and more than a dozen are seriously injured. The circumstances are still unclear. Everything you need to know at a glance.
On the holiday island of Mallorca, a piece of news is causing shock: Four people died when a restaurant collapsed on the popular Playa de Palma. Among them were two Germans, police announced on the morning after the accident. 16 injured people are currently being treated in various hospitals, seven of them are in a critical condition. The remaining nine are all seriously injured, but their lives are not in danger, according to official sources.
The fatal accident has also caused horror in Germany. Many circumstances are still unclear. The most important questions and answers at a glance.
What exactly happened in Mallorca?
The accident happened right on the beach, just a few streets away from the cult bars “Megapark” and “Bierkönig”. The building of the “Medusa Beach Club” collapsed on Thursday at around 8.30 p.m. The first floor collapsed immediately down to the basement, where many guests were having dinner, reported “El País” and other media, citing eyewitnesses. Javier, a resident of Playa de Palma, was in the immediate vicinity when the building on Cartago Street collapsed as quickly as a house of cards, but with a loud bang. “It sounded like a bomb,” he told a reporter from the regional newspaper “Última Hora”.
Police, fire brigade and Mallorcan emergency services were quickly on site. The neighboring bars and houses were evacuated due to the risk of collapse and the area was cordoned off.
Up to 1,000 people had gathered in front of the accident site immediately after the collapse, reported the newspapers “Diario de Mallorca” and “Última Hora”. Relatives of employees feared for their loved ones, onlookers debated the possible causes. The police had to repeatedly ask the crowd to be quiet so that the rescue teams could hear the voices of possible survivors under the rubble.
“Medusa Beach Club”
Death at Ballermann – the disaster in Mallorca in pictures
What is known about the fatalities?
The next day it was announced that two German holidaymakers aged 20 and 30 were among the four people killed in the building collapse. A 23-year-old Spanish woman and a 44-year-old man from Senegal also died in the accident, according to the police in Palma. The deputy mayor of Palma, Javi Bonet, said that the two Germans who were killed had been on holiday in Mallorca. According to police, the Spanish woman had worked in the restaurant. According to local media reports, the Senegalese man had also been living on the island for years.
How could the accident happen?
After the initial shock, the next day the question of “how” comes to the fore. How could this fatal accident have happened?
Only two days ago, the “Medusa Beach Club” advertised its “new roof terrace” on social media. The restaurant, which is popular with tourists and residents alike, had previously been “under renovation all winter long,” as a neighbor reported to “Diario de Mallorca.”
Initial investigations now indicate that the new terrace on the first floor gave way and collapsed. And with it the ground floor, which could not bear the weight, so that both floors collapsed down to the basement. An initial check has shown that the overloading of the first floor was a possible cause of the collapse, said fire chief Eder García. The investigations are ongoing.
What happens after the tragedy?
The day after, the investigations on Playa de Palma are still in full swing. Early on Friday morning, emergency services were still feverishly searching for victims under the rubble. However, a police spokesman had given good news shortly before midnight: “With 90 percent certainty” there were no people under the rubble, he said when asked by the German Press Agency. However, they will search for as long as necessary, said an official. Possibly “for many more hours”.
Meanwhile, a team of officials, technicians and architects from Palma City Council have begun to examine the structural remains of the beach club for clues as to the cause of the accident. Drones were used, among other things.
What are the reactions?
There is sadness and horror in Mallorca. On the evening of the tragedy, the regional Prime Minister Marga Prohens, the Mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, and the First Deputy Mayor, Javier Bonet, went to the beach to see the scene with their own eyes. President Prohens wrote on X that she was “shocked” by the news and added that she was “sending love and warmth to the families of the four people who lost their lives.” Mayor Martínez declared three days of mourning.
In Madrid, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and stressed: “I am closely following the consequences of the terrible collapse on Palma beach.”
There is also a great deal of sympathy in Germany. Mallorca is one of the most popular holiday destinations for Germans. It is not for nothing that the island in the Mediterranean is jokingly referred to as the “17th federal state”. According to official figures, more than 14 million tourists visited the island last year.
A similar tragedy occurred in Mallorca in 2009. Seven people were killed when a three-story building in Palma collapsed.
Sources: “El Pais“, “Mallorca Daily“, “Last Hour“, with news agencies DPA and AFP