Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a fire that tore through three adjacent nightclubs in the south-eastern Spanish city of Murcia over the weekend, killing at least 13 people.
The blaze broke out at about 6am on Sunday in La Fonda Milagros club, before spreading to the neighbouring Teatre and Golden clubs, officials said.
Francisco Jiménez, the central government’s delegate to Murcia, confirmed 13 people had died in the fire, adding that the victims included individuals with Colombian, Nicaraguan, Ecuadorian and Spanish nationality. Two people were still missing on Monday afternoon.
Murcia city council said it appeared that the Teatre and La Fonda Milagros nightclubs had been operating without a licence since January 2022 after planning concerns were raised about the decision to split the original Teatre club into two venues: Teatre and La Fonda Milagros. Antonio Navarro, Murcia’s councillor for urban planning, said the clubs had been ordered to close in October last year, adding that the council would be taking legal action against the company that owned the venues.
Credit: theguardian.com
