Spanish police open manslaughter probe into nightclub fire that killed 13 people

A manslaughter probe has been opened after 13 people were killed in a fire at a Spanish nightclub complex early this week.

Based in Murcia, Fonda Milagros and its two other adjoining clubs - Golden and Teatre - were caught in a blaze in the early hours of Monday morning marking Spain’s deadliest nightclub fire in three decades.

According to The Journal, police and forensic investigators are attempting to determine how the fire started and whether it was the result of negligence.

The Superior Prosecutor of Justice of the Region, José Luis Díaz Manzanera, told La Opinion de Murcia that “it will be difficult” to reach a definitive conclusion on the investigation of the fire.

He explains that according to Article 142 of the Penal Code if the cause of the fire was negligence, those responsible could be sentenced to up to nine years in prison “as it is a case involving a large number of deaths”.

“We must go centimetre by centimetre, checking everything,” he adds.

“Let’s see how it ends up. There may have been a short circuit that was not caused by negligence,” he said.

Recent reports suggest that the company running the nightclubs only had permission to run the Teatre, and it remains unclear how it was able to continue the operation of the Fonda Milagros.

Murcia's Deputy Mayor Antonio Navarro, told reporters that the council had ordered the Teatre and Fonda Milagros nightclubs to close in January 2022.

In an interview with Las Mañanas de RNE Rebeca Pérez, vice mayor of Murcia City Council said: "We still have no indication as to whether the premises had all the safety regulations. All municipal services are already working on the investigation. Yesterday the priority was rescuing bodies"

This is a developing story.

Becky Buckle is Mixmag's Multimedia Editor, follow her on Twitter