And, after the storm, calm came. The discovery of last body, lifeless, around 2:50 in the morning This Wednesday closed a chapter, not a wound, in the center of Madrid. The search that had begun just 14 hours earlier was suspended, when building number 4 on Hileras Street, 300 meters from Puerta del Sol, had collapsed.
In the throes of this tragedy, and with the air in the area still thin, Carlos Marín, chief of the capital’s Fire Department, yesterday gave this newspaper an assessment of the operation carried out by his team. A feat not only because of the record recovery time of the missingalso due to the technical difficulties they faced since they were facing “one of the worst possible scenarios.”
So far, the main hypothesis addresses the excess material stacked on the sixth flooras explained yesterday by the mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida. An extreme that is not shared by the head of the company Anka Demoliciones, Daniel Anca, who yesterday denied the hypothesis suggested by the councilor and assured that the collapse of the building was an “accident” in an area where no work was being done, stressing in turn “that all the workers had the documentation and licenses in order”. Also that the works were progressing at a “very slow” pace since it was an old building that required progressive interventions.
While everything becomes clearer, Marín draws on certainties. “What we know is that two quadrants of the floor of the top floor collapsed, which is one of the worst situations that can occur. There was a progressive structural collapse that was, as they say, like a house of cards. One by one they gave in all the floors of the building until reaching the basement,” this spokesperson explains in detail.
As a result of this phased sinking, according to Marín’s calculations, approximately 150 cubic meters of rubble were created, which would translate into 300 tons. And, among so much rubble and piled concrete, the indications that there were four people trapped, with the urgency that this entailed.
“As soon as we arrived, the worst forecasts were confirmed, because the façade was also unstable. So we got to work carrying out different actions at the same time: a very fine evaluation of the structure while everything was cleaned and secured. those elements that could generate a risk in the work areas of our colleagues. And all this at the same time that the search itself began, clearing debris hand by hand that is compacted.”
Marín details that all the actions carried out are “procedural” and that, after the first analyses, an entry and exit route was established so that firefighters could access the waste dump “in safe conditions.” “We also had security guards who observed unstable elements and, At the slightest hint of noise or suspicion, they raised the alarm and everyone ran away.“explains the head of this body.
With a settled itinerary, a primary search began to be put into practice. From the superficial part of the rubble, a visual tracking was made using thermal cameras. They also used the formula of calling and listening. “We dialed their mobile phones so that the tones would tell us where the bodies could be. In addition, all the information that colleagues or witnesses provided was collected, to narrow the circle“.
Two municipal canine guides with the dogs Freyja and Kenya.
This is where the elite dogs specialized in searching for missing people. The Canine Rescue Unit of Spain (UCR), which provided two of these animals, as well as the Municipal Police, who came with Freyja (Leonese Shepherd) and Kenya (Belgian Malinois Shepherd), and the National Police, who came with Scotex and Lume. “We continued clearing debris as fast as we could. Then we stopped and, when the dust settled, the dogs came in to mark certain areas, which was where we focused later.”
It was Scotex and Lume who ended up finding, around three in the morning, the last bodies that corresponded to the architect Laura and one of the three workers who also died. “That there is a collapse of six forgings at 12:50 p.m. and that 14 hours later we have rescued all the missing people. an idea of the power that the Madrid Fire Department has“said Marín, for whom “in this type of accident, the difference between four people dying or 40 is a matter of luck.”
After thanking all the colleagues, from eight different parks, who did an exceptional job this Tuesday, he specified that they will not leave Hileras Street until all the certainties are clarified. At the moment, after the daring rescue, they are working together with the Urban Planning technicians, with the construction company itself and with the Scientific Police in order to clarify the origin of the accident.