Three hurt, several feared trapped, as building collapses in holiday hotspot

Three people have been injured and several others are feared to be trapped after a building collapsed in the holiday hotspot of Los Cristianos in Tenerife. One 57-year-old woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries after the four-storey building came down during building work. A second woman, 55, and a man, 28, needed medical treatment and there were reports that nine others could be trapped in the rubble. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion and the smell of gas in the area before the building collapsed “like a pack of cards”.

There were three separate collapses with the second being the loudest. After the third - and when the huge cloud of smoke cleared - I saw a woman shouting in Spanish who appeared trapped and who I’ve subsequently been told has died.

Javier Velazquez, who lives next to the block

Police, firefighters, paramedics and Red Cross workers have arrived at the scene as part of a major rescue operation. The immediate area has been evacuated amid fears of a further gas explosion. Pub owner Javier Velazquez, 58, who lives in a flat above his bar next to the affected building, said: “My whole terrace has been obliterated. The noise when the building collapsed was tremendous. There was work going on in an old commercial premises on the first floor and I fear what’s happened could be something to do with that.“

They are trying to secure a wall which is part of the building that has remained in place and specialised firefighters will enter when it is secured. Only then will we know for sure if there are any fatalities or anyone trapped inside.

Police spokesman

tenerife collapse