A fire that broke out in a nightclub in the southeastern Spanish city of Murcia on Sunday morning claimed the lives of 13 people and injured four others, authorities said. The fire started around 6 a.m. in the popular Theatre nightclub and quickly spread to the adjacent Fonda nightclub, where most of the victims were found.
The fire caused the roof of the Fonda nightclub to collapse, making it difficult for the rescue workers to locate and identify the bodies. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, but some witnesses said they heard an explosion before the flames erupted.
The mayor of Murcia, José Ballesta, said the fire was “extremely serious” and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims.
He declared three days of mourning in the city and set up a reception base for the relatives of the victims.
The prime minister of Spain, Pedro Sánchez, also voiced his “solidarity with the victims and relatives of the tragic fire in a Murcia nightclub” on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
