4 killed, 16 injured as restaurant collapses in Spain’s Balearic Islands

A two-storey restaurant building collapsed on the beach in Palma de Mallorca on Thursday, killing at least four people and injuring 16 people in the tourism hot spot in Spain’s Balearic Islands, the country’s national police said.

Seven people were injured “very seriously” and nine were seriously injured, emergency services said on the X social media platform. They were taken to various hospitals in Palma.

Emergency crews are finalising search and rescue operations and securing the area, a spokesperson for the local police told radio station RNE around midnight, local time.

“That is why now we ask you silence because we need silence to see if we hear someone,” he said, adding that he could not rule out that someone was still trapped.

“The terrace has come down, probably due to excessive weight,” he said, adding that the causes are still being investigated.

The first calls came in around 8 pm, he said.

Firefighters and police forces rushed to the scene, emergency services said, adding some psychologists had been called in.

“I am closely following the consequences of the terrible collapse that occurred on the beach of Palma,” Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on X.

Sanchez said he had spoken to local and regional authorities, adding the government is ready to help “with all the means and troops that are necessary.”

“I want to send my condolences to the families of the deceased and my wish for a speedy recovery to the injured,” he said. Spanish state-owned broadcaster TVE showed firefighters working to clear areas of the Medusa Beach Club in Palma around 11.30 pm local time, and ambulances on the scene.