On Thursday evening, a club on Playa de Palma in Mallorca collapsed. Four people died, including two German women. 16 other people were injured. All developments in the ticker.
Wednesday, May 29, 7:11 a.m.: The operators of the Medusa Beach Club face up to 38 years in prison, Spanish lawyer Bartolomé Salas Seguí told Bild. They could be charged with negligent homicide. “The sentence for each death can be between one and four years in prison. In addition, each case of bodily harm is a separate case, with the punishment depending on the severity of the injuries,” said Salas Seguí. It is important that there was obviously no intent, so it was a case of negligence.
According to initial investigations, the terrace was fitted with a new screed without a building permit. The excess weight caused by this conversion, in combination with the 21 guests who were on the terrace at the time of the collapse, could have led to the accident.
An employee of the Medusa Beach Club told Bild that the operators urgently wanted to sell the bar because it was no longer profitable. That’s why they had remodeled the terrace. “It was all just a facade to distract. The terrace was still very old,” said the employee. He was not sure whether the building had been inspected. “It’s common in Mallorca for reports to be issued just like that if you have a few thousand euros on the table.”
Tuesday, May 28, 12:07 p.m.: Five days after the fatal terrace collapse on Playa de Palma, Palma’s mayor Jaime Martínez explained at a press conference that the Medusa Beach Club did not have a license to operate the terrace. The use of the upper floor was therefore illegal. This is reported by the “Mallorca newspaper”. The building even failed an inspection in 2023.
Investigations confirm that excessive load on the terrace caused the collapse. “We assume that there were 21 people on the first floor at the time of the accident,” said Martínez. It is possible that tables that had been pushed together caused the collapse.
Four people were killed in the collapse, including two German holidaymakers. One victim is currently in hospital, according to the mayor. Three Germans were among the 14 injured.
6:53 p.m.: “We have been running the restaurant for 25 years, the terrace for 12 years. There is nothing illegal about it,” says Christian A. about the collapse of the Medusa Beach Club on Mallorca. He is the tenant of the location where the terrible accident happened on Thursday. He rushed to the scene of the accident as soon as he heard about it and even turned off the gas in the kitchen, he says.
“I’m in the shop every day myself, it could just as easily have happened when I’m there,” Christian A. told Bild, stressing that he is working with the authorities to determine the cause of the accident. However, he vehemently denies that the terrace was overcrowded. “There were ten to 15 people on the terrace. There was no dancing either. There are camera recordings that prove this.”
However, it is correct that he distributed flyers the day after the accident. “I tried to return to everyday life,” explains the tenant. He feels “like shit. It’s the first time something like this has happened to me. There’s an inner emptiness that can’t be described.”
5.32 p.m.: A German couple who wanted to take a break in Mallorca were struck by tragedy when the Medusa Beach Club collapsed. Four people were killed in the accident on Thursday, including German holidaymaker Jessica from Marpingen in the Saarland district of St. Wendel.
As “RTL” reports, Jessica and her husband Thorsten T. were on a short trip to the Spanish island to recover from the stresses of the flood relief effort in Germany. Their two children, aged three and six, had stayed with their grandparents.
Thorsten T. was injured in the accident and has been in the St. Wendel hospital since his return to Germany. “He is in a terrible state, he is also being treated in hospital for his head injuries, it is all a complete disaster,” his uncle told RTL. Thorsten’s brother is with him to support him, while his mother-in-law is looking after the children.
The search for those responsible for the collapse is in full swing. Investigators are checking whether all structural changes were approved by the authorities and how the collapse could have happened. The police are said to already have video evidence. In an official statement on Instagram, the club said: “We will do everything in our power and work with the authorities to understand everything that happened. We at Medusa Beach would like to express our sincere condolences to the families of the victims.”
10.50 a.m.: One of the fatalities in the restaurant collapse on Mallorca is a woman from Saarland. A spokesman for the police situation center in Saarbrücken confirmed corresponding media reports on Sunday.
The 31-year-old from Marpingen in the St. Wendel district died in the accident on Thursday evening, the spokesman said. The woman was the mother of two children. The spokesman did not provide any further details. The Spanish police had initially given the woman’s age as 30.
Sunday, May 26, 9:00 a.m.: As the “Mallorca Zeitung” reports, there were apparently inconsistencies in the construction work on the collapsed restaurant building several years ago. According to the newspaper, the city administration initiated a sanction procedure for “urban planning violations” in 2020 – although the construction work responsible for the procedure was already identified in 2013.
After that, further construction work is said to have been carried out on the roof, the legality of which is currently the subject of further investigations. According to the report, the last renovation took place in 2021, after two neighboring buildings were merged to form the current restaurant in 2018.
According to the “Mallorca Zeitung”, there are also inconsistencies in the permits. According to the report, there are no notes about the use of the roof terrace for activities in the collapsed building.
Saturday, May 25, 2:44 p.m.: Despite the incidents, the owner of the Medusa Beach Club is said to have already distributed flyers for his other restaurant on Friday. This is located just 400 meters from the Medusa Beach Club. “Bild” reports this.
Four people died when the club collapsed. The operator did not want to comment further on the matter. “I will clarify this with the relatives,” he told Bild.
6.15 p.m.: In order to clarify the restaurant collapse on Mallorca, authorities say that all permits for structural changes and all operating licenses for the restaurant are already being examined. “We are checking whether everything is in order. And if not, we will find out why,” the regional minister for town planning, Óscar Fidalgo, was quoted as saying by the regional newspaper “Diario de Mallorca.” “This and the reports from the security forces on site will make it possible to determine the causes of the accident,” he promised.
On Friday, there was intense discussion on the Mediterranean island about possible structural defects. It is suspected that the balcony terrace of the Medusa Beach Club on the first floor, which according to witnesses was the first to collapse, was perhaps accessed by too many people at the same time. An initial investigation has shown that the overloading of the first floor was a possible cause of the collapse, said Palma’s fire chief Eder García.
Meanwhile, Fidalgo did not want to participate in speculation about the cause of the collapse. “We are looking at everything. But I cannot make any assumptions with the data we have at the moment,” said the minister. The newspaper “Última Hora” reported, citing the authorities, that the building had recently undergone a structural inspection. This found “minor problems that did not affect the structure.” However, the balcony terrace was classified as “not accessible,” the paper wrote.
5.34 p.m.: The portal “Der Westen” spoke to an employee of the Medusa Beach Club. She has been in Mallorca for seven years and wanted to start her third season at the club on Thursday evening. It was her first day. “I was standing down on the right-hand side and saw exactly how the ceiling suddenly fell down,” the woman explains. The upper floor had only been opened a few days previously. The restaurant is there, “everything is new, really fancy.” After the building collapsed, the employee fled outside to the promenade.
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