Two workers have been trapped after two slabs fell from a building that was being rehabilitated at the confluences of Lezama and LLodio streets, behind Herrera Oria street, a spokeswoman for the Emergency unit reports.
The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez Almeida, who immediately went to the scene, declares the two trapped workers dead, since an eight-ton beam has fallen on them. The councilor commented that “it is very difficult for those two people to be alive, as it is an eight-ton slab.” The event occurred around 11 in the morning and at 3 p.m. the bodies have still not appeared.
According to the vice mayor of Madrid and delegate of Security and Emergencies, Inmaculada Sanz, “there has been a collapse on the upper floors of one of the structures that has caused the large concrete slab to give way.” In her opinion, “It will take a long time, it will take several hours because the building is in a situation of instability and therefore they have to work very little by little to be able to free that slab,” Sanz added.
In addition, a third worker has been rescued and taken to the La Paz hospital with advance notice after suffering a broken leg and multiple bruises. His condition is serious but in principle there is no life-threatening risk, health sources have indicated.
A worker, Hassan, who was working with a machine in front of the building, explained to Europa Press that he has lived with “terror” the collapse that has left two of his colleagues trapped under the rubble.
“There has been a shocking noise, all the people watching from outside the street. Very bad, we have had a bad time,” she indicated.
The building was for tertiary use and was being rehabilitated to build 140 homes for students. A concrete slab weighing about eight tons has fallen on those two workers, who have been trapped.
More than 40 members of the Madrid City Council firefighters are working in the area, where one of the construction cranes is being used to lift more weight. The Municipal Police is also operating with its drones to provide firefighters with images of the interior, while the Samur-Civil Protection has installed a field hospital and has the collaboration of the Summa health workers.
Therefore, the work will last for hours because, in addition, the building must be shored up and consolidated to avoid further collapses. Hence, firefighters and police have to access it carefully to avoid more deaths.
In any case, the spokesperson for Madrid Emergencies has confirmed that firefighters have accessed the building, but with “great caution.”
In addition, an Emergency operation has been deployed in the area to attend to those potentially affected by the collapse.
For her part, Ana Belén Peñas, head of Occupational Health at CCOO Madrid, “regrets the death of the two workers and assures that, in the absence of the relevant investigation, there have been a lack of safety measures to protect the lives of these two workers.”
The City Council is checking whether the licenses and administrative procedure for the execution of the work are in order.
