Tragic Inferno at Spanish Nightclub: Unveiling Startling Negligence and Controversial Closure Order
Tragedy strikes Spanish nightclub as deadly fire claims lives, raising concerns of negligence Venue ordered to close in 2022 due to licensing issues, spotlighting authorities' failure to take action before the devastating incident
The Spanish nightclub, which was devastated by a tragic fire on Sunday, has been instructed to shut down in 2022 due to its lack of a valid license. This has raised concerns as to why authorities had not taken action to close the venue earlier, especially considering the loss of life of over a dozen individuals. A senior official responsible for licenses, Antonio Navarro, announced on Monday that an order for the closure of the nightclub had been issued in January 2022. Despite the owners' unsuccessful appeal, the city reaffirmed the decree in October 2022.
"The company bears sole responsibility for this tragedy as it blatantly disregarded the warnings to shut down the nightclub," stated Navarro.
Over the weekend, a devastating fire broke out at the Fonda Milagrosa nightclub and the adjacent Teatre venue, resulting in the loss of at least 13 lives. This incident marks Spain's deadliest nightclub fire in 33 years.
Scenes emerged of firefighters working to contain the blaze on Sunday, as survivors gathered to search for missing relatives.
Firefighters can be seen working at the site of a deadly blaze in the Teatre nightclub in Murcia, in southeastern Spain, on October 1.
Javi Carrión/Europa Press/AP
Emergency services work to extinguish the fire on Sunday, where at least 13 people were killed.
The Teatre nightclub was granted a license and opened its doors in 2008. In 2019, the city authorities received a formal request to divide the nightclub into two distinct establishments. The purpose was to establish La Fonda as a separate venue, located next door in the same rectangular building, as explained by Navarro.
However, by 2022, city authorities deemed it necessary to closely examine the modifications made to establish two distinct nightclubs, thereby requiring a separate license for La Fonda.
"La Fonda had never obtained any kind of license," Navarro explained, highlighting the absence of an approved crowd capacity limit for the nightclub.
According to Andres Francisco Guerrero, the predecessor of Navarro, firefighters at the blaze site expressed concerns about the presence of an emergency exit in La Fonda. The walls that separated the two nightclubs were constructed using plasterboard. Navarro and Guerrero ignored inquiries from reporters regarding the possibility of city inspectors or local police taking further measures to close down the non-compliant nightclub.
Navarro said the city of Murcia would join any lawsuit against the nightclub owner.
CNN has contacted the nightclub owner for a response.
The death toll is expected to remain at 13 after firefighters thoroughly searched the burned nightclubs and found no additional bodies, according to the Spanish government's chief representative in Murcia. This information is supported by government and police data, as stated by Francisco Jimenez during an interview with state TVE. Further, Murcia's mayor, Jose Ballesta, mentioned in a separate interview on Telecinco that it is unlikely any more bodies will be discovered at the scene, and almost all of the previously reported missing individuals have been located.
The mayor announced that three individuals killed in the fire were identified using fingerprints. However, the remaining 10 victims would need DNA samples from their family members for identification. Ballesta mentioned that city psychologists were offering support to the affected relatives.
