Spain: At Least 13 Dead in Murcia Nightclub Fire

Facts

• On Sunday, at least 13 people were killed after a fire ripped through three adjoining nightclubs in the south-eastern Spanish city of Murcia.¹
• Officials said the blaze started at around 6 a.m. local time in La Fonda Milagros club before spreading to the next-door Teatre and Golden clubs.²
• Four people also suffered injuries from smoke inhalation — two women aged 22 and 25 and two men aged 41 and 45.³
• Meanwhile, police have cautioned that the death toll could rise as rescue teams search for more victims.⁴
• Murcia city council is expected to take legal action against the owner of the venues as the clubs were reportedly ordered to shut down last October.²
• José Ballesta, Murcia's mayor, has announced three days of mourning in the city. Meanwhile, an investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing.⁵

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²Guardian, ³CNN, ⁴NBC and ⁵Al Jazeera.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by InSpain.news. Spain's poor track record of substandard infrastructure planning deeply contributed to the high death toll of Murcia's tragic fire. The country must work towards a long-term, concrete infrastructure plan to avoid such tragic incidents in the future.
• Narrative B, as provided by NDTV.com. It's still unclear what caused the blaze, but the authorities are determined to bring anyone responsible to justice. As this is an unprecedented tragedy, the priority right now is to extract the bodies, secure the area, and care for the victims' families.