Spanish authorities reported that four bodies have been retrieved from the wreckage of a six-story building that collapsed in central Madrid, which was in the process of being converted into a hotel.
Mayor Jose Luis Almeida expressed his sorrow on social media, stating, “It is with deep sadness that we confirm that Madrid firefighters have recovered the bodies of those missing after the collapse.”
The deceased were identified as construction workers from Ecuador, Mali, and Guinea, aged between 30 and 50, along with a 30-year-old female architect involved in the renovation.
The bodies were found during a search and rescue operation on Wednesday morning, nearly 15 hours after the building’s internal structure gave way, while the exterior remained largely intact. Three other construction workers sustained injuries in the incident.
A worker named Mikhail recounted the moments of the collapse, saying he was outside pumping concrete when he saw a massive plume of dust. He immediately ran for safety. “I ran first. I didn’t care about anything else. I saved my life first and hopefully others later,” he shared with reporters.
The building, registered online as constructed in 1965, had undergone technical inspections in 2012 and 2022, during which it was marked as “unfavorable” due to various issues with its condition.
Initially a former office building, the property was being transformed into a four-star hotel by developer Revirita, although the company did not provide any comments regarding the collapse.
The property is owned by RSR, a Saudi-based investment fund known for high-end hotels and tourist apartments in Spain and Portugal. They had acquired it for €24.5 million (about $28.5 million) in 2022.
The renovation project, approved in December 2024, was anticipated to take two years.
