As is almost always the case, the deaths of people alone at home are discovered by neighbours who notice they haven’t seen them around for a while. On other occasions it is a relative who hasn’t heard from an elderly or infirm family member and when they go round, nobody answers the door.

This was the case last weekend in Motril in a block of flats on Calle Plasencia, not far from the Plaza de Aurora.

The body of a 52-year-old woman was recovered by firemen who had to access the flat using an extending ladder and forcing a window. The body was found just behind the reinforced front door.

One neighbour had also noticed that M.I.H.U. hadn’t been out for a while and when later other block residents noticed the smell of decay the worse was feared.

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