Spanish emergency services have recovered the bodies of four people from beneath the rubble of a six-storey building that collapsed in central Madrid.
The tragedy was said to have struck as the block was being renovated and turned into a hotel.
Announcing the news, Mayor Jose Luis Almeida said: ‘It is with deep sadness that we confirm that Madrid firefighters have recovered the bodies of the people who went missing after the collapse.’
The victims have been identified as project architect Laura Rodriguez, 30, and construction workers Moussa Dembele, 40, Diallo Mamadún and a man called Jorge.
Following a search-and-rescue operation in which police and firefighters deployed drones and sniffer dogs, two of the victims’ bodies were found just before midnight on Tuesday, while the others were found in the early hours on Wednesday morning.
The building, which was set to be transformed from an office into a luxury hotel with a ground-floor restaurant, is in the heart of one of Madrid’s top tourist areas.
It is just a five-minute walk from La Puerta del Sol, one of the city’s most well-known squares.
Around 40 people were said to have been inside the building as it collapsed. Three other construction workers were injured.
The collapse of the building’s interior structure left its façade intact.
Spanish emergency services have recovered the bodies of four people from beneath the rubble of a six-storey building that collapsed in central Madrid
One of the victims was identified as project architect Laura Rodriguez (pictured)
Another victim was named as Moussa Dembele (pictured) – a construction worker
One construction worker named Mikhail was pumping concrete into the building’s lower floors and was outside when the collapse occurred. He said he saw a large cloud of dust and immediately sprinted away.
‘I was the first to run, I didn’t care about anything else. I’ll save my life first and, if I can, save others later,’ he told reporters on Tuesday.
Authorities said the incident ’caused the different floors to also give way down to the basement of the building.’
They added: ‘The damage there is very severe, and the possible impact on adjacent buildings is also being analysed.’
According to Madrid’s online registry of buildings under construction, the property was built in 1965.
It underwent two technical inspections in 2012 and 2022 and was classified as ‘unfavourable’ due to ‘the general condition of the façade, exterior, partition walls, roof, roof terraces and plumbing and sewage system’.
The former office building, located in an area of downtown Madrid popular with tourists near the opera house and royal palace, was being converted into a four-star hotel by developer Rehbilita, according to information on its website.
Rehbilita did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The property belongs to Saudi-based fund RSR, a real estate investor specialising in high-end hotels and tourist apartments in Spain and Portugal. RSR bought it for €24.5million (£21.3million) in 2022.
Its renovation, approved by municipal authorities in December 2024, was expected to last two years.
