The police confirm the “negligence” in the use of a spark machine as the cause of the fire that killed 13 people in Murcia

The fire that on October 1 ended the lives of 13 people in two nightclubs in Murcia was “accidental due to negligence”, due to misuse of a cold fire or spark machine that caused the fire in a “single and the main “focus” was on the false ceiling of the Teatre room, more specifically in the area where the stage where the DJs performed and the aforementioned machine was located. These are the main conclusions reached by the members of the Ocular Inspections Section of the General Scientific Police Station of Madrid who, from October 2 to 11, thoroughly inspected the Teatre and Fonda Milagos rooms in search of evidence about the origin and causes of the tragic accident.

This body has sent this week to Court Number 3 of Murcia, which has an open case for 13 possible crimes of reckless homicide, a report in which they detail all the evidence collected and which comes to ratify the hypotheses other previous writings of the Judicial Police and the firefighters, who also pointed out that the fire originated in Teatre, despite the fact that all the victims died in Fonda Milagros.

The report, to which EL PAÍS has had access, details the lamentable state in which both rooms were left, completely burned. Due to the damage to the different elements such as ceilings, columns or bars and their different colors, the scientific police are clear that the origin of the fire was in the false ceiling of the Teatre nightclub. They work with the hypothesis that the fire “in the first phase, developed slowly” within that false ceiling until the “poor union of the metal panels” that formed the roof of the nightclub with the structure of the building facilitated “ a contribution of oxygen that causes the fire to break out and develop in a more accentuated and virulent way.” In an area close to where that fire started violently, the document also states, there was a door that connected Teatre and La Fonda Milagros, which was “the route through which the fire entered” the second nightclub, where the attacks occurred. deaths. In addition, the two premises were separated by a plasterboard wall, “not very fire-resistant construction,” and which was completely devoured by the flames. Teatre has another attached room, the Golden nightclub, which was not damaged by the fire. The report states that in this case the separation of the premises “was carried out with a type of fireproof material, which prevented the fire from passing into this premises.”

As for the cause of the fire, based on the state of the nightclubs' wiring, investigators determine an electrical fault and focus on the cold fire machine. Numerous videos and photographs contributed by people who were at Teatre on the night of the fire show how the sparks emitted by the machine directly hit the false ceiling of the nightclub, in the same place that investigators believe the fire started. These images, the police document states, corroborate that the safety instructions of the machine were not respected, which established a minimum distance of 1.5 meters from the end of the sparks to any surface. In addition, the chemicals used to produce cold fires “react with water, producing extremely flammable hydrogen gas,” so they are not indicated for use in humid environments. However, during the party white smoke machines were also activated that “need a humid environment.” For the police, this circumstance increased the possibilities of generating a chemical reaction and creating “a flammable atmosphere.”

The report also confirms the security deficiencies detected by the firefighters, who had to force several doors with bars and padlocks to access Teatre through what should have been its emergency exits. It also points to possible irregularities in the electrical installation based on a report from the supply company, which indicated that the premises had had a contract that was canceled in August 2015 and, since May 2016, the rooms, which shared an installation , were “disconnected from the general distribution network.” The technicians did not detect any “direct connection to the network or clandestine derivations for the electrical supply”, so the clubs would be supplied with their own generators that the agents found in the back alley that gave access to the emergency exits, and that It was practically impossible to navigate, since belongings of all kinds accumulated there.

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