Two people have died after a piece of scaffolding plummeted 13 floors from a building in Benidorm. The victims, aged 26 and 45, were thought to be working on the structure when it gave way in the Spanish seaside resort on Wednesday morning. A third person reportedly had a miracle escape after being left hanging from the 11th floor in the horror accident on Ibiza Street.
Emergency services rushed to the 18-storey Principality Europe building after being alerted at around 10:48am, according to local reports. The workers had purportedly been carrying out remodelling work on its façade for months, with the project scheduled for completion in just a few weeks’ time.
Initial reports suggested one person had died, and another was seriously injured after the scaffolding collapsed, with the second fatality confirmed later in the day.
The third worker, who is believed to have been left hanging near windows on the 11th floor, was rescued after tourists who had arrived the previous night helped them to safety.
A business owner based near the building said she heard “a great crash” and then “heartbreaking screams”, before finding a pile of “dust and destroyed scaffolding”.
She told Spanish newspaper Informacion that the work had been underway for around a year and a half, describing the incident as “horrible”.
Another passerby recounted “a spectacular roar of iron and tiles and screams” before he saw the worker who was left hanging get “hooked to a railing” before someone opened a nearby window.
Spanish police said a major investigation is underway.
Benidorm has decreed an official day of mourning for the two deaths, with a rally planned outside City Hall on Thursday including a three-minute period of silence.
