PALMA DE MALLORCA, Spain, May 25, (AP): Excess weight on a first-floor terrace may have contributed to the collapse of a building housing a bar and restaurant club on the Spanish island of Mallorca that killed four people, officials said Friday.
Spain’s National Police said the collapse Thursday killed two German women, ages 20 and 30, and a 33-year-old Spanish woman as well as a 44-year-old Senegalese man. The Spanish woman worked in the club, they said.
Palma de Mallorca Mayor Jaime Martínez and fire department spokesman Eder García told reporters that excess weight on the terrace may have caused the collapse. García later said the age of the building, which was not given, might also have been a factor.
Sixteen people were injured and five of them were reportedly in serious condition. They were treated at local hospitals. Martínez said that by midday Friday the lives of the five in serious condition were not in danger.
Officials said that of the 16 injured, 11 were Dutch and they were all hospitalized. Three of the five released were also Dutch. It was not clear if they were all tourists or some were residents. There were no immediate details on the nationalities of the other two people released.
Police and firefighters were inspecting the building Friday to try to ascertain the causes of the collapse.
The collapse happened in the city of Palma on the Mediterranean island popular with tourists. The building housed a restaurant called Medusa Beach Club, located near the beach, and the area was packed with tourists at the time.