The Albany Gazette - Two bodies found, two missing after Madrid building collapse

- What happened? -

Emergency services said on X that firefighters were working at the scene near the Plaza Mayor, which is popular with tourists, "after the collapse of various floor slabs".

The central government's top representative in the Madrid region, Francisco Martin Aguirre, told reporters at the scene that the collapse "caused the different floors to also give way down to the basement of the building".

"The damage there is very severe, and the possible impact on adjacent buildings is also being analysed," he said.

Madrid's municipal police told AFP neighbouring buildings were being evacuated.

- What is the toll? -

The total number of injuries was unclear.

Martin Aguirre said the toll "at the moment is estimated to be around 10, mostly minor, injuries".

But Inmaculada Sanz, deputy mayor and a top security official at Madrid town hall, later provided a toll of three injured.

The emergency services had also initially reported three injured workers, "none serious".

Madrid's mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida said on X that one of the injured workers had been taken to hospital.

Martin Aguirre also initially reported four missing people, with Sanz adding that they were three men and a woman.

Late Tuesday Martinez-Almeida said that the bodies of two of the missing had been found, at least one of them a man, and that emergency services were still searching for the other two.

- What did the scene look like? -

Police working with drones had cordoned off the street, which was full of ambulances and police cars as dozens of onlookers gathered outside, AFP journalists saw.

Milagros Garcia Benito, who works at a hairdresser in front of the building, told AFP there was "an enormous explosion, it blew out the glass and everything".

"Lots of white dust, you couldn't see anything. Firefighters and police started arriving quickly," she said.

Sanz told reporters that "the amount of rubble is very significant" and that the emergency response "will last quite a long time, not only hours, probably a few days".

- What was the building? -

The former office building was being reconverted into a hotel, with data on Madrid town hall's website showing that a permit had been granted in February.

According to the land registry, the building had six storeys with a total surface area of 6,745 square metres (nearly 73,000 square feet).

(A.Johnson--TAG)