2023-12-18 15:23:58
Two and a half months after a devastating fire that killed 13 people in a discotheque in southeastern Spain, the public prosecutor’s office has brought charges against six people. They are charged with negligent homicide, as the responsible court in Murcia announced on Monday. Among the defendants are the operators of the “Teatre” and “Fonda Milagros” discos.
The fire broke out in the “Fonda Milagros” on the night of October 1st. The flames spread to two other discos, including the “Teatre”. The fatalities were all found in the “Fonda Milagros” disco, which was predominantly attended by Latin Americans, where a birthday party had taken place. The bodies were so badly charred that police had to ask relatives for DNA samples to identify the victims.
In the trial, the court in Murcia now wants to interview nine eyewitnesses who were at the disco on the night of the accident and suffered burns or smoke inhalation. The judge also requested an expert report on a spark machine used in the disco.
According to the Murcia city council, the operators did not have a license to operate the two discos. The city ordered the closure in January 2022 because the operating company only had a license for one of two clubs – the “Teatre” – but not for the “Fonda Milagros”, which later opened in the same building. The operators rejected this.
In Spain there have been several disasters in discos in the past. In 2017, 40 people were injured when a ceiling collapsed in a packed nightclub on the holiday island of Fuerteventura. In 1990, 43 people died in a fire at a discotheque in the northern Spanish city of Zaragoza.
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