The first floor of the nightclub Fonda Milagros de Murcia became, on Sunday morning, a deadly fire trap from which at least 13 people could not escape. It is the floor in which the reserved ones to which the clients go are located, especially when they have a celebration. They are supposedly privileged spaces, in height, overlooking the central area of the room. However, the access and exit of these was not easy. And less between flames.
A young woman who frequents the place yesterday described the reserved area as "a labyrinth". "It has a staircase but then you have to go through a corridor to get to the reserved," he said. This referred to the fact that these watertight spaces were designed as a theater box, with access and exit through a rear corridor that ran through the entire floor, in the shape of a horseshoe. "There was only one staircase," said this girl at the gates of the Sports Palace of Murcia, where family and friends of the disappeared were concentrated to receive psychological help. At least 13 people died in the fire, although it is not ruled out that there are more deaths, since there are a total of 16 people, of different nationalities (Spanish, Ecuadorian and Nicaraguan, at least) who have reported the disappearance of relatives or acquaintances who were in the nightclub and who have not been located.
The entrance to the Fonda Milagros nightclub moved to almost any Latin American country. Ornaments simulating palm leaves, vegetation, although plastic, and vallenatos, cumbias and rancheras as a soundtrack. It was a place frequented, above all, by the Latin community of Murcia but among its clients there were also Spaniards. A lot of synthetic material, paper on the walls, carpets, wood... Everything that made travel to that Caribbean environment became fuel.
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Thirteen dead in Murcia when several nightclubs in a well-known leisure area caught fire
"Mommy, I love her, I'm going to die," was the heartbreaking audio message one of the victims sent to his mother at 6:06 a.m. "She's my daughter and I haven't heard from her again. Nor from her boyfriend," her father said hours later just 200 meters from the door of the nightclub, after a police cordon that he could not cross.
Although the police are still investigating the point where the fire originated, the state of the reserved area furthest from the exit staircase, completely burned and where 11 of the 13 bodies were found, suggests that it was around the reserved 18, where a birthday was celebrated. However, not all the deceased participated in that celebration since among the disappeared there are also two Ecuadorian couples who traveled from neighboring Caravaca de la Cruz.
The two bodies that were found on the ground floor, according to fire sources, should also have been found above but fell when the structure collapsed, as they were covered by debris. Among them, according to various sources, there is a local worker. They indicated that although the fire must have been very voracious, the deceased probably died from the inhalation of smoke and gases from everything that burned. "They should not have suffered much," they said at a time when any consolation was sought.
Firefighter in front of the Teatre de Murcia nightclub, this Sunday. HANDOUT (AFP)
Firefighters participated early Sunday morning in the work of extinguishing the fire in the discotheques.bomberos de Murcia
The mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta, at the scene of the accident. Marcial Guillen (EFE)
Police officers, in the area of the event, this Sunday. Alfonso Duran
A firefighter works in the area of the accident, this Sunday. Marcial Guillen (EFE)
Firefighters and police work in the commercial and leisure area known as Las Atalayas, on the outskirts of the city. Marcial Guillen (EFE)
Firefighters in front of the nightclub Teatre de Murcia, this Sunday.city council of Murcia
Firefighters moved the body of one of those killed in the fire, this Sunday. Alfonso Duran
Firefighters participated in the work of extinguishing the fire in the discotheques.firefighters of Murcia
Police officers, in the area of the event, this Sunday. Alfonso Duran
Relatives and friends of the deceased, in the vicinity of the discotheques destroyed by the fire. Marcial Guillen (EFE)
Firefighters in the area of the event in the nightclubs of the commercial and leisure area of Las Atalayas de Murcia, this Sunday.112 Murcia (112)
More than a dozen people who have been in that nightclub say there is no emergency exit signposted. However, the mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta, could not report on Saturday if the establishment complied with safety standards or if it had the required licenses because, 12 hours after the incident, they had not yet analyzed the documentation. Even so, he was blunt when it came to affirming that the city council will appear in the open judicial procedure: "All this is going to be clarified to its ultimate consequences, whoever falls," he said.
Two police patrols were at six in the morning in the area known as Atalayas – where the nightclub is located, the main nightlife polygon of Murcia, three kilometers from the city. These agents were the first to go to the door of the establishments to which, immediately, the firefighters also came. Although at first it was thought that both the Fonda and the adjoining discotheque, Teatre, which was also affected by the fire, were evacuated, it was family and friends who warned that there were people who were still inside.
Smoke before fire
Adriana Caballero, 20, was also celebrating her birthday at La Fonda when, around 6 a.m., the room filled with smoke. "I went into the bathroom with a friend. While inside we heard a man screaming for us to run, we got scared and got out of the toilet. When we got back to the track, there was so much smoke we couldn't breathe. You couldn't see anything, everything was dark and the room was practically empty." Caballero and her friend stopped to pick up her purse and went out the street through the front door, the only one they saw open. "We were among the last to leave. They were already taking out the last remaining people. At the entrance we saw a girl lying on the ground and we thought she was passed out. There were a lot of people crying and we were in shock because we didn't know what was happening or when it had happened," says Victoria Sánchez.
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