The death toll from a fire that tore through three adjoining nightclubs in south-eastern Spain, killing at least 13 people, could rise as rescuers continue to search through the wreckage, police have said.
The blaze in the city of Murcia broke out at about 6am on Sunday morning in the La Fonda club, before spreading to the neighbouring Teatre and Golden clubs, officials said.
By mid-morning on Monday, five people who had been reported missing and who were feared to have been in the club when the fire broke out had been found safe and sound.
Although Murcia’s mayor, José Ballesta, said no more bodies had been found overnight, police warned that the number of those killed in the fire could still rise.
“We can confirm the sad news that 13 people have died – three of whom have already been identified,” a spokesperson for the Policía Nacional told the state broadcaster, RTVE, on Monday morning.
“When it comes to the number of missing people, we’re opting for caution. We’re not ruling out that there may be more dead people inside. We still haven’t managed to get into the interior of the club … The state that the facilities are in is making things difficult for both firefighters and police.”
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Only three bodies had been identified as of late on Sunday, using their fingerprints. Officials said identification of the remaining bodies could take days, as DNA samples would have to be sent to Madrid for processing.
Among the missing were a couple, Jorge and Rosa Bajiota, who had travelled to Murcia from the nearby town of Caravaca with two friends, El Mundo reported. The couple had three children.
One friend who had accompanied them to the club that night sent an audio message to her mother during the fire, saying: “I love you mum. We’re going to die, mum I love you.” In the background, people could be heard shouting for the lights to be turned on.
It was not clear if the 28-year-old woman was among the dead, but her father, identified only in Spanish media as Jairo, said he had not heard anything further from her.
Ballesta said structural damage to the buildings had made access difficult.
“What we are doing right now is trying to extract the bodies, secure the area, care for the families, identify them, which isn’t easy at all,” Ballesta said.
Officials said four people, two women, aged 22 and 25, and two men in their 40s were treated for smoke inhalation.
“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 spokesperson told Radio Onda Regional de Murcia.
Eleven of the 13 bodies so far recovered were found on the first floor of La Fonda, while two were found among the rubble on ground floor. The police said the temperature in the night club may have reached between 1,000 and 1,500C, according to La Verdad de Mercia.
One of those missing was Éric Hernández, originally from Nicaragua and who was celebrating his 30th birthday with friends and family including his brother, Sergio, and his mother, Marta, at La Fonda, the paper reported.
A cousin, Walter Hernández, who survived after leaving the group to have a drink on the lower floor, said eight members of the party were missing.
The city declared three days of mourning for those who had died and flags were lowered to half mast outside Murcia’s city hall.
Spain’s king said he felt “pain and dismay” following “this tragic day in Murcia”, and thanked rescue workers for their “exemplary work”.
The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, voiced “solidarity with the victims and relatives of the tragic fire in a Murcia nightclub”.
