Firefighters on Monday searched the debris of a blaze that split a packed Spanish nightclub complex over the weekend, killing at least 13 people and leaving two missing.
According to AFP, the cause of the fire, which broke out early on Sunday in a building housing the Teatre and Fonda Milagros discos on the outskirts of the southeastern city of Murcia was not yet ascertained.
Murcia Mayor Jose Ballesta told Spanish public television that police initially identified 15 people as missing after the blaze but as of Monday morning there were only two people still unaccounted for.
“It is very unlikely that any other body will be found,” he added.
Police said three of the victims had been identified by their fingerprints. The rest of the bodies will have to be identified using DNA samples from close relatives.
“Police are using all the means at their disposal so that the families can get this information as soon as possible,” police spokesman Diego Seral told Spanish public television.
The fire spread from the upper storey of the two clubs, which were next to each other in the building, he added.
“The fatalities were all concentrated in a very small area in the Fonda establishment,” Serral said.
Firefighters told Spanish media the temperature inside the nightclubs soared above 500 degrees Celsius (900 degrees Fahrenheit) as the blaze raged.
Police will have to wait 48 hours for the area to cool so that they can investigate what caused the blaze, Seral said.
He further said that there was a birthday party at the club on Saturday night.
A man named Jairo, who said he was the father of one of the victims, told newsmen his 28-year-old daughter had been inside one of the clubs.
He had had no news of her since she left a desperate voice mail message at 6:06 am, he added.
“Mum, I love you. We’re going to die. I love you mum,” a young woman’s voice could be heard crying on the recording, while in the background people shouted for someone to turn on the lights.
An information area for victims’ relatives has been set up in the nearby sports hall, where a team of psychologists will be on hand to offer support.
Firefighters dispatched to the scene at 7:00 am were able to extinguish the fire by 8:00 am, Ballesta said.
More than 40 firefighters and 12 emergency vehicles attended the scene, authorities said.
