An electrical short circuit caused the fire

“Mummy, I love her, let us die. “Mommy, I love her.”. Mom I love you, we’re about to die. It’s 6.06am when the 28-year-old sends this dramatic voice message via Whatsapp to her mother. Smoke and flames rose around her, the lights went out, and what had previously been a disco, which even at that hour was vibrant with music and lights and people dancing, turned into a trap. As the girl recorded her farewell message, others could be heard shouting: “Turn on the lights.” “My daughter has understood that she will not be able to escape,” her father, Jairo, shakes his head and speaks to reporters outside the house. Nightclub to Murcia Thirteen bodies have already been recovered. “They didn’t tell us anything. We don’t know if she was also among those killed. She came with her boyfriend.” Three nightclubs burned down Spain It leaves a toll of pain and questions. Thirteen confirmed casualties, sixteen missing, and four wounded. Of the thirteen charred bodies found, only three have been identified, and DNA testing will be necessary for the other ten. This is what makes the mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta, say: “Taking into account the thirteen bodies and the sixteen missing from the roll call, I think there are actually three people missing.”

At dawn
Murcia, southeastern Spain.

The Atalaya neighborhood is a thirty-minute walk from the center. There is a nightlife area, which is a series of old buildings that have been converted into clubs. They are called Fonda Milagros, Teatre and Golden. Yesterday morning, fire broke out on the second floor of the First Colombian Club, which is mainly frequented by the Latino community. Then they also affected other neighbors. The victims, according to authorities, were all in Fonda, in particular the group of Nicaraguans who occupied the “18 VIP cabin” on the second floor where they were celebrating the birthday of Eric, 30, who died with his companions. His girlfriend, his mother and some family members. Even though it was already morning, there were still hundreds of customers there when a short circuit caused the fire to break out. Firefighters specified: “There are still ongoing investigations into the causes,” while the mayor added: “If any rules are violated, we will achieve justice.” In Murcia, three days of mourning were declared, and many remember that the theatre, one of the three nightclubs involved, had already been evacuated in 2009 due to another fire caused by an electrical short. But what happened yesterday, how those on the first floor could have found themselves trapped, and why it was not possible to leave the room in time to save their lives, remains to be clarified.

The trap
Let’s start again from the second floor of Fonda Milagros. Shortly before the fire, several videos were circulated on social media. Latin music, young and old dancing, others sitting at tables toasting, and twinkling lights. What happens from six o’clock onwards is left to the testimonies: we start to smell smoke, someone alerts security, others get scared and move away, but at first it seems like a manageable situation. The fire alarm sirens go off, but all the lights go out, adding to the danger. You hear screaming. Anyone on the ground floor can come out, and those above but close to the stairs can come down, perhaps illuminating the way with their cell phone’s flashlight. However, many are still trapped on the top floor, and at a certain point security personnel do not allow anyone who wants to go and rescue their friends to climb the stairs in the area from where the 28-year-old sent the voice message telling her mother that she loved her. The roof collapsed, and the flames and, above all, the smoke reached other discotheques nearby. The theater was also destroyed, and it will be made clear that there were no deaths, even if firefighters could not rule out the possibility of finding bodies there as well.

The search is complicated because there is a risk of collapse. They explain immediately after the alert from the emergency services of the Murcia region: “Several teams from the Murcia Fire Brigade went to the scene and are trying to extinguish the fire and who requested the intervention of the General Directorate of Safety and Emergency helicopter.” There are relatives waiting outside. They will then be transported to a sports center, but it will be DNA testing is needed to give a name and surname for most of the bodies.Murcia also has a large community of Italians, made up of Erasmus students and people who work in the restaurant sector, but they rarely frequent this area, preferring places in the historic centre.