The priest Matías Quintana was eating when the walls of his house flew through the air after a loud roar.
Seconds later, he got up in a daze.
He grabbed the mobile with his hand and began to record what had happened around him.
He thought he was going to die.
He sent a video to his family in farewell mode.
"Pray for me," he asked in a calm voice.
Video recorded by Matías Quintana himself moments after the explosion.
The destruction of his floor, full of rubble and without walls, contrasted with that of his body, intact.
It came out practically unscathed from the explosion.
For some, that was a miracle.
For others, only science can explain why he is still alive.
His partner Rubén Pérez and the electrician David Santos did not have the same luck.
Natural gas, which is lighter than air and tends to rise, accumulated on the upper floors of the building.
1
Accumulation
Of gas
Priest
Matías Quintana
The accumulated gas found at some point in the building a spark or a flame and the deflagration of all the gas took place.
two
Deflagration
A deflagration generates more gases and expands the air immediately.
The shock wave, which is gaining strength as it moves away from the source, met the resistance of the walls and knocked them down.
3
Expansive wave
Matías Quintana was not affected by the deflagration, but the shock wave did.
It ran over him, but did not harm him.
4
Natural gas, which is lighter than air and tends to rise, accumulated on the upper floors of the building.
1
Accumulation
Of gas
Priest
Matías Quintana
The accumulated gas found at some point in the building a spark or a flame and the deflagration of all the gas took place.
two
Deflagration
A deflagration generates more gases and expands the air immediately.
The shock wave, which is gaining strength as it moves away from the source, met the resistance of the walls and knocked them down.
3
Expansive wave
Matías Quintana was not affected by the deflagration, but the shock wave did.
It ran over him, but did not harm him.
4
The accumulated gas found at some point in the building a spark or a flame and the deflagration of all the gas took place.
Natural gas, which is lighter than air and tends to rise, accumulated on the upper floors of the building.
1
two
Accumulation
Of gas
Deflagration
Priest
Matías Quintana
Matías Quintana was not affected by the deflagration, but the shock wave did.
It ran over him, but did not harm him.
A deflagration generates more gases and expands the air immediately.
The shock wave, which is gaining strength as it moves away from the source, met the resistance of the walls and knocked them down.
4
3
Expansive wave
Natural gas, which is lighter than air and tends to rise, accumulated on the upper floors of the building.
The accumulated gas found somewhere in the building a spark or a flame and the gas ignited.
A deflagration generates more gases and expands the air suddenly causing a shock wave.
1
two
3
Accumulation
Of gas
Expansive wave
Deflagration
Priest
Matías Quintana
The wave, which is gaining strength as it moves away from the origin, met the resistance of the walls and brought them down.
4
Matías Quintana was not affected by the deflagration, but the shock wave did.
It ran over him, but did not harm him.
Following the explosion of the building, a detailed investigation began to find out what exactly had happened.
Where was the fault.
How it had happened.
Why.
The forensic police got to work, observing first and asking questions later.
The firefighters, who were the first to arrive, explain to EL PAÍS how a gas explosion behaves in a closed place.
Fernando Arias, fire sergeant of Madrid, teaches EL PAÍS how gas behaves in closed spaces when there is a deflagration and its shock wave.
Video: Antonio Nieto
A break in the gas line
A month later, the justice has closed the case.
“After carrying out the necessary investigation procedures to clarify the facts,” argues the magistrate in a brief two-page order, “it is concluded that the etiology of the explosion was accidental, without any other different causality having been established. the explosion having been caused by a natural gas leak, which developed slowly, continuously and for a long time ”.
Investigators found a clue.
The pipe that is buried underground at the entrance of the building was separated from its connection, that is, the coupling that connects the gas from the street with that of the house was broken.
In addition, they also found a water hole under the building.
What happened first, gas or water failure, is not known.
The judge believes that it was all "accidental."
Natural gas entered the building outside the pipeline and leaked through holes in the ceilings and walls.
Toledo street
Natural gas
Inside
of the building
Connection key
Gas
Supply
Of gas
The leak occurred in the gas connection.
A movement of the ground disconnected the natural gas supply pipe from the service tap.
The gas began to come out under pressure.
Natural gas entered the building outside the pipeline and leaked through holes in the ceilings and walls.
two
Toledo street
Natural gas
Inside
of the building
Connection key
Network
supply
Of gas
Gas
The leak occurred in the gas connection.
A movement of the ground disconnected the natural gas supply pipe from the service tap.
The gas began to come out under pressure.
1
two
Natural gas entered the building outside the pipeline and leaked through holes in the ceilings and walls.
Toledo street
Natural gas
Inside
of the building
Connection key
Gas
1
The leak occurred in the gas connection.
A movement of the ground disconnected the natural gas supply pipe from the service tap.
The gas began to come out under pressure.
Supply network
Of gas
Toledo street
Natural gas entered the building outside the pipeline and leaked through holes in the ceilings and walls.
two
Natural gas
Inside
of the building
Connection key
The leak occurred in the gas connection.
A movement of the ground disconnected the natural gas supply pipe from the service tap.
The gas began to come out under pressure.
1
Supply network
Of gas
Gas
That day it was raining and cold in Madrid.
The capital of Spain was still experiencing the blows of the storm
Filomena
.
The maximum temperature reached 10 degrees and the minimum 3 degrees. One of the two priests who survived told the police that, by midmorning, his radiators "were neither hot nor cold."
It was difficult to warm the atmosphere.
The boiler on the sixth floor activated the red button as an alarm signal.
And they began to worry.
After the first investigations, the focus stopped pointing towards a possible failure in the building's boilers and, more importantly, towards the deceased electrician, who had come to help the religious because he lived right next door.
The gas leak, according to the police report, was located between the first boiler of the building and the supply connection, "the possible irregularities or not of the installation having not influenced the cause of the explosion."
The fault was in the street.
That has become clear.
Naturgy, the company that distributes gas in the area, did not register any notice that day.
The gas company learned of the tragedy on the news and made itself available to investigators.
In this case it was important to determine the exact site that caused the disaster because there are several companies involved.
Naturgy distributes gas to the central area of Madrid, but it is not necessarily the marketing company for each home.
In this case, its responsibility is limited to everything related to the pipes that reach the building, but it does not take responsibility for the failures of those that are distributed inside, which belong to Remica, the marketing company.
The fault was found outside, right at the rush.
The last inspection of the area was carried out at the end of 2019, as the company itself explains to EL PAÍS.
The next mandatory review was scheduled for the end of this year.
The building, with its doors and windows to the outside closed, became a great trap.
Natural gas, with less density than air, rose throughout the block, accumulated for hours, met a spark, and the blast wave did the rest.
0.5
0.6
Gas city
Weight ratio relative to air of the usual gases in heating systems:
Natural gas
Propane gas
Butane gas
1.6
2.1
City gas and natural gas are lighter than air and tend to accumulate in upper ceilings and cavities.
Propane gas and butane gas weigh more than air and accumulate in floors, basements and basements.
0.5
0.6
Gas city
Weight ratio relative to air of the usual gases in heating systems:
Natural gas
Propane gas
Butane gas
1.6
2.1
City gas and natural gas are lighter than air and tend to accumulate in upper ceilings and cavities.
Propane gas and butane gas weigh more than air and accumulate in floors, basements and basements.
City gas and natural gas are lighter than air and tend to accumulate in upper ceilings and cavities.
0.5
0.6
Gas city
Weight ratio relative to air of the usual gases in heating systems:
Natural gas
Propane gas
Butane gas
1.6
2.1
Propane gas and butane gas weigh more than air and accumulate in floors, basements and basements.
City gas and natural gas are lighter than air and tend to accumulate in upper ceilings and cavities.
0.5
0.6
Gas city
Weight ratio relative to air of the usual gases in heating systems:
Natural gas
Propane gas
Butane gas
1.6
2.1
Propane gas and butane gas weigh more than air and accumulate in floors, basements and basements.
When fire crews arrived, they found three bare floors in a building of seven, plus a fire at the entrance.
Natural gas was coming out throughout the afternoon of the accident.
Firefighters were unable to put out the fire until 9:30 p.m., six hours after the explosion.
The police investigation has concluded without revealing where the exact point of ignition occurred, although there is an important fact about the behavior of the gas that the experts consulted explain: when between 5% and 15% of gas accumulates in the environment of a confined space, any spark can cause an explosion.
Turn on the light, a microwave, press the elevator button, light a cigarette or a simple phone call.
"It was a fortuitous accident," the judge argued to file the case.
A month later, Toledo Street is passable again, although the block is still under reconstruction.
Four people died: two of them were thrown out of the building and two others received the impact caused by the explosion because they were passing through the street at that time.
16 cars were completely destroyed.
The 210 children from the La Salle-La Paloma subsidized school, right next door, were saved because instead of being in the yard, as was usual at that time, they were in the classrooms to avoid the snow and ice left by the storm
Filomena
.
On January 20, Madrid experienced a warlike scene just 10 minutes on foot from Puerta del Sol.
A police helicopter flies over the area after the explosion.
Video: National Police.
Antonio Nieto (videos) and Nacho Gallello (information)
have contributed to the preparation of this report.
