Majorca membership unveiled new rooftop bar a DAY earlier than terrace collapse

  • Four dead and seven in critical condition after partial building collapse in Spain
  • Were you there? Contact perkin.amalaraj@mailonline.co.uk 

The Majorca nightclub and restaurant which collapsed, killing four people and injuring 16, unveiled a new rooftop bar just one day earlier.

Chaos consumed Majorca last night as a hundred emergency responders raced to the Medusa Beach Club in the popular Playa de Palma on Thursday evening to a scene of devastation.

A terrace of the two-storey building is believed to have collapsed through to the basement of the building, which has left only the façade still standing, local media said. 

Public television for the Balearic Islands reported that people were dancing on the terrace that collapsed below into the floor beneath, although this has not been officially confirmed.

Just a day before the collapse, the Medusa Beach Club social media team on Instagram posted a photo of their new rooftop bar with the caption: ‘Totally different. New rooftop.’

As well as those confirmed dead and injured, reports overnight suggested as many as ten people were feared trapped under the rubble as desperate rescue operations continued.

Emergency crews told concerned locals gathering at the scene to remain silent so that rescue workers could hear sounds from trapped survivors.

Palma Town Hall has declared three days of mourning as rescue efforts continue.  

Horrific scenes show rescue workers attempting to pull survivors from the building

A distraught onlooker makes a call as emergency workers stabilise an injured man in a neck brace

Emergency staff’s members work after a two-storey building collapsed on Playa de Palma, south of the Spanish Mediterranean island’s capital Palma de Majorca, on May 23, 2024

Medics take injured people away from a building that collapsed in Palma de Majorca, Spain, Thursday, May 23, 2024

Chaos has consumed Majorca, after four people died and 16 were injured when a nightclub and restaurant in Playa de Palma

Fire teams scramble to help injured after the first floor of a club collapsed ‘to the basement’

Emergency services at the scene of a building collapse at the ‘Medusa Beach Club’ restaurant at Palma Beach in Palma de Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spain, 23 May 2024

A survival blanket allegedly covering a body is seen after a two-storey building collapsed in restaurants area

Around one hundred emergency responders raced to the scene of the incident, identified locally as a beach bar in the city called the Medusa Beach Club

Emergency staff’s members work after a two-storey restaurant collapsed, killing four and injuring 17 people on Playa de Palma, south of the Spanish Mediterranean island’s capital Palma de Majorca, on May 23, 2024

Emotional reactions from people at the scene on Thursday amid desperate rescue operations

The bar is understood to be popular with British and German tourists

Just one day ago, the beach hut posted on Instagram: ‘Totally different, New rooftop’

At least four people are believed to be dead, with dozens injured in the carnage

The total number of injured is now believed to stand at 16 and not 21 as officials had previously stated or 27 as well-placed sources said earlier in the evening.

Local media reported the three women and one man made up the deceased, and that two of them worked at the club.

The man has been named locally as Abdoulaye Diop, a Senegalese migrant living in Majorca and working as a nightclub doorman who made headlines on the island in 2017 by saving a man who was drowning in the sea at Playa de Palma.

He is thought to have stopped off at Medusa Beach Club, on the beachfront promenade, after leaving the gym.

A female friend of his who worked at the beach club, a restaurant which also offers live music with a DJ and is famed for its cocktails, is understood to be another of the four people who lost their lives.

The remaining two have been described locally as female tourists.

The bar is understood to be popular with British and German tourists, although details on the identities of those affected remain scarce. 

Locals have likened the collapse to a bomb going off.

Raul Pursnani, owner of a shop called Moda Meena next door to Medusa Beach Club, said: ‘I was leaving my shop and was outside when everything came down all of a sudden.

‘The noise was very loud and the impact was massive. The first floor collapsed onto the one below.’

Eder Garcia, head of the Palma Fire Brigade, said from the scene overnight: ‘The names of the victims including the survivors and their degrees of injury are known.

‘There are several nationalities and what we know is that most are not from Palma.

‘A lot of the names are foreign names but we don’t know yet whether they include staff who were working there or whether they were visitors but we expect many will be tourists.’

He added: ‘We received the first call around 8pm.

‘The first floor terrace has collapsed, probably due to excess weight although it’s still under investigation, and it’s impacted on an arch below which has also come down and affected the basement where there was a table football table and there were people eating.’

Psychology experts were brought in to support victims traumatised by the horrific events. 

The Foreign Office said last night there are no reports that British nationals were involved in the incident. 

A spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of an incident in Palma, and there are currently no reports of British nationals having been involved. We remain in contact with the Spanish authorities.’  

Residents have told how two storeys of restaurant and night club collapsed without warning at a popular night spot in Majorca.

A fire brigade crane and rescue workers were going through rubble at the Medusa Beach Club. 

Emergency services finalising the search and rescue operations have told those witnessing them remain silent as crews continue their work.  

‘We ask you silence because we need silence to see if we hear someone,’ a police spokesperson told local radio. 

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

Medics take injured people away from a building that collapsed in Palma de Majorca, Spain, Thursday May 23, 2024

Emergency services at the scene of the disaster in the popular beach resort overnight

A woman sits with her hands on her head near the complex following the collapse on Thursday night

Emergency crews gather at the scene following the collapse of the building on Thursday

As well as those confirmed dead and injured, reports overnight suggested as many as ten people were feared trapped under the rubble as desperate rescue operations continued

The club in the popular beach resort unveiled a new rooftop bar just a few days ago

A floor of the popular restaurant and beach club collapsed earlier this evening

Emergency services were on hand to treat the injured alongside psychology professionals

One resident told MailOnline: ‘It’s terrible, two storeys collapsed and took everyone down with it.

‘There were local people and tourists there. God help them.’

Tourists watched in horror from the beach in darkness as rescue workers from the Spanish fire brigade sifted through the rubble.

Rescue teams lifted huge pieces of masonry and concrete from the ruins.

Restaurants and bars adjacent to the collapsed building were forced to close but others nearby continued to play loud music and serve drinks.

Neighbours said they heard a loud noise followed by screams coming from the venue as the building collapsed, La Vanguardia reported.

Emergency services have been working late into the night 

Neighbours said they heard a loud noise followed by screams coming from the venue as the building collapsed

Santiago Aranda, walking his dog with his wife at the time of the collapse, told Spanish outlet COPE‘s La Linterna: ‘It’s one thing to watch television and another thing is this and being there… I don’t have words to describe it. It was an explosion, and we were in the street opposite.’

His voice trembling, he told how ‘some ran in the opposite direction and others towards the dust’ after the explosion.

Santiago told the outlet he stayed to help the wounded and ‘get people out’, assessing that ’90 per cent’ of those inside at the time were German, ‘because of the screams, the wailing and the crying’.

Emergency services have not yet shared the identities of all of the deceased, and have neither confirmed nor denied whether tourists were involved. 

Video footage showed people crowding around the bar in the immediate aftermath of the collapse.

But local media reported that one of the four people who have so far died following the collapse is Senegalese man Abdoulaye Diop.

Diop was a nightclub bouncer for Black Magic, a club just a three-minute walk away from Medusa. 

First analyses suggest one of the terraces of the building may have collapsed, dragging the rest of the property down in on itself, according to the outlet. 

Authorities were forced to call a crane company to help lift debris from the two-storey building with the extent of the casualties still unknown.

But there remain fears that efforts to remove the rubble could cause the remaining front of the building to topple back into itself.

Emergency services remained on the scene through dusk and into nightfall, working tirelessly to recover bodies and survivors, with seven so far reported to have been found in ‘critical condition’. 

At least seven fire engines were on site to assist rescue efforts, ladders lowered to provide access into the building.

And ambulance steamed towards the site, with local media reporting the carnage was given ‘absolute priority’. 

Authorities have also called on psychologists from the Official College of Psychology of the Balearic Islands to assist, as traumatised victims are pulled from the wreckage. 

Crowds of people are still sat outside Medusa

Police sources have put the number of injured at at least 16

Playa de Palma is the beach area lying to the east of the Majorcan capital

The injured are currently being evacuated through the back of the restaurant, facing Trasimé Street, where they are being treated.

Others have been taken to local hospital centres in Majorca, according to La Vanguardia. 

Police sources have put the number of injured at at least 16. 

Local emergency services, writing on Twitter/X, reported shortly before 11pm BST that four people were confirmed to have died, seven were very seriously injured, and nine were seriously injured.

A spokesman for a regional emergency response coordination centre said: ‘We have activated an emergency response as a result of the collapse of the ceiling of a two-storey building in Avenida Cartago in Playa de Palma, where people are trapped.’

It was initially reported in Spain that a false ceiling could have collapsed, before being ruled out. 

Playa de Palma is the beach area lying to the east of the Majorcan capital. It is especially popular with British and German holidaymakers. Around 3.2 million Brits travel to Majorca each year.

It is now feared disturbance to the site could cause further collapse of the building 

Seriously injured people were taken to ‘various’ hospital centres across the island

Emergency services worked through the evening in a desperate attempt to rescue survivors

File photo. The Playa de Palma beach in S’Arenal in Majorca, Spain

Investigators are still working to determine the exact cause of the accident.

Marga Prohens, president of the Balearic Islands, wrote on Twitter/X:  ‘Shocked by the information I received about the collapse of Platja de Palma. 

‘Sending all my affection and warmth to the families of the four people who lost their lives in this tragic incident and wishing the recovery of all the injured.

‘Thanks to all the emergency services that have moved to the scene and continue to work there.’ 

‘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.

The president of the opposition Popular Party Alberto Núñez Feijóo also expressed his condolences, writing on X: ‘From the Popular Party we send our condolences to the affected families and our support to the emergency teams that continue working.

Both the PP and PSOE of the Balearic Islands agreed to suspend political campaigns for the upcoming European elections, scheduled for tomorrow, out of respect.