Bodies of three missing people are found after five-storey building collapse in Barcelona

The bodies of the three people reported missing following the collapse of a five-storey building in Badalona (Barcelona) yesterday were found this Wednesday morning (7 February) during work to clear debris from the area.

The victims are two women and a man who did not live on the same floor of the collapsed building. One of the victims leaves two daughters, while the man who lost his life had recently become a father. One of the victims was making a video call with family members at the time of the incident.

The tragedy happened on Tuesday morning, when the five-storey building collapsed from top to bottom, starting in the top floor apartment. Residents of the two adjacent buildings were evacuated after the incident.

Speaking to journalists at the scene, head of the fire brigade, Eduard Martínez, explained yesterday that the collapse began on the roof of the top floor flat, above the dining room, and affected the rest of the floors, although the façade of the building was preserved intact.

"The debris accumulated on the ground floor reached around the height of the first floor," he said about the state of the building when the fire brigade arrived. Firefighters began to remove 60 and 90 cubic metres of debris accumulated inside the building on Tuesday afternoon and the first body was found at 1.45am this Wednesday morning, the second at 6.30am and the last at 7am.

The cause of the incident is currently unknown. The local council said that the building passed a technical inspection a month ago and that no defect was found. "There were no reports of illegal works or any other issues," according to the council.

The mayor of Badalona, Xavier García Albiol, has decreed three days of official mourning and called on members of the public to an event in memory of the victims on Wednesday afternoon in the main square of the Barcelona town.