Terrace of collapsed Majorca bar was unlicensed, mayor says

One firefighter described the scene on Thursday as “nightmarish”, according to local newspaper Ultima Hora.

He added that when his team arrived, people were crying and screaming as they stood around the rubble on the floor.

Eyewitnesses recalled hearing a loud noise, which sounded like an explosion, at the time of the incident.

The victims were a 23-year-old Spanish woman who worked at the bar, two German women aged 20 and 30, and a 44-year-old Senegalese man, reported to be Abdoulaye Diop, who made national headlines in 2017 for rescuing a man who was struggling in waters off the Majorca coast.

Only one of the 16 people injured is still in hospital, authorities said.

The Medusa Beach Club is one of dozens of bars, restaurants and hotels located just off Playa de Palma, a long beach stretching eastwards from the city of Palma, which cater to tourists who stay in the area.

Majorca is the largest of Spain’s Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean.

Last year, more than 17 million people visited the Islands.