Holidaymakers have been injured and more than 150 people evacuated after part of the dining room of a hotel in the popular Spanish resort collapsed earlier this evening
Holidaymakers have been hurt and over 150 people evacuated after part of a hotel dining area in Mallorca caved in. Several guests suffered injuries as a result of the incident this evening in the bustling tourist resort of Santa Ponça.
The incident took place at approximately 9.30pm at the Rey Don Jaime hotel, situated at number 4 Gran Vía Puig Major street. Multiple guests were dining in one of the establishment’s restaurants when, for reasons currently under investigation, the floor gave way.
Images published in Spanish newspaper Ultimahora.es show the dining area with collapsed floor panels, tables and chairs shifted sideways and rubble strewn across the ground.
One of the primary theories being examined by Civil Guard investigators is that the floor panel subsided due to its advanced age and lack of mesh reinforcement.
Fire crews from the Calvià station, alongside ambulances, Local Police patrols and the Civil Guard, raced to the location to assist potential casualties.
Medical personnel treated several individuals with minor wounds while officers evacuated approximately 150 people as a safety measure.
A comprehensive investigation will now commence to establish why part of the flooring collapsed. This marks the second such incident at a Spanish hotel within just a few days.
The first occurred in Benidorm where a hotel restaurant roof collapsed on Easter Sunday.
Tourists thought a bomb had gone off. The thunderous crash of the ceiling collapsing in the restaurant of the Poseidon Palace hotel was so deafening that even guests by the swimming pool could hear it.
The tourists have described their shock at the terrifying incident which left at least seven people hurt, including a young lad.
Yet they revealed it could have been far more catastrophic, as just the previous day the restaurant had been heaving with 400 diners who had only departed on Saturday.
“There was a great amount of dust, with people running; it looked like they had planted a bomb,” said one couple from the Spanish mainland. “In the end we were lucky because in the area where the roof fell it was not full of people.”
Another witness added: “It was a very tense moment. We arrived at that time to eat and people fled in terror without knowing what was happening.”
The incident, which remains under investigation, occurred shortly after 2pm on Easter Sunday. The restaurant ceiling gave way, sending down a colossal amount of rubble, plasterboard, shattered glass and even sections of the air conditioning system.
Seven individuals were wounded, with five requiring treatment at nearby hospitals. Their ages ranged from 30 to 80. An eight year old boy and another holidaymaker aged 78 received medical attention at the scene.
The nationalities of the casualties have not been disclosed, though all those hospitalised have since been released.
The hotel company states that a thorough examination of the structure is underway, awaiting a technical assessment from the municipal architect.
The dining area at the Poseid The Palace has been shut and visitors are now using the restaurant of a neighbouring hotel.
Holidaymakers said it had been a terrifying experience and were thankful that the restaurant wasn’t crowded.
One of those affected collapsed, either due to stress or because of some existing medical condition, but the man immediately came round, according to the company.
“There has been no blood, everything was bruising,” said general director of Poseidon Hotels, Pere Joan Devesa, who confirmed the cause had not yet been identified.
“If in an AVE train with all the technology they have they take time to specify the causes, here in 24 hours we cannot do it,” he said.
The hotel dates back to the 90s so deterioration has not been ruled out.
A thorough inspection of the complete plasterboard installation is being carried out.
A couple from Murcia said they were in the pool when the incident occurred.
“There was a lot of noise and very scared people. It was all very striking because firefighters, police and ambulances arrived,” they told Spanish newspaper Informaction.es