Two workers in their mid-50’s were seriously injured by an explosion in the room where they had been working owing to an accumulation of chemical fumes. A spark from one of the tools created a fireball, the strength of which caused a wall to be blown out.

The incident, which occurred in Calle Contreras, immediately provoked a flurry of calls by locals to the 112 emergency number. When the emergency services arrived it was to find the two victims badly burnt. The workers had been putting down a carpet using a strong adhesive, but it appears that they had not provided adequate ventilation resulting in a build up of inflammable gas.

The police evacuated the building because there was still combustible material in the premises and it was feared that a second explosion could occur. The explosion had also generated a large amount of dense black smoke in the building.

The two victims were first rushed to the Motril hospital were their conditions were stabilised before being flown by helicopter to the special burns ward of the main hospital in Sevilla. One of them had 65% burns to his body.

Finally, the workers union UGT has begun an investigation into what appears to be a lack of adequate safety measures taken on the premises, which was being converted into a dance academy.

(News: Motril, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)