A young friend of two of those killed in the collapse of a restaurant in Platja de Palma was saved from the event for just a few minutes thanks to an unexpected phone call. Verónica López was heading to the premises like every afternoon after finishing her work day when, just ten meters from the Medusa Beach Club, she received a call from her roommate because she had left her house keys. She changed her address and, when she arrived at her house, she began receiving calls from friends explaining what had just happened.
López explained that the Medusa Club Beach was a meeting point for workers in the area when they finish their work. She had been a regular at the place for years and she knew well the young Senegalese who was inside when the collapse occurred. She was also a friend of the deceased waitress, a young woman from Navarre, 23 years old, but also of Senegalese origin.
“We are in shock,” he told journalists in front of the premises where there is still rubble. He explained that the place was closed during the winter, like most of the shops, bars and restaurants, since there are no tourists, but it had reopened a few months ago. “There had never been any problem with anything,” he said.
“I was coming here, but they called me when I was on the corner and I had to turn back,” he explains. “I got free thanks to the fact that they called me to go to my house,” she says. He assures that it is a regular place that he went to every day, like many co-workers in the area. “They called me because they thought I was inside,” he says. It is likely that he knows some of the injured because the place was “like a little family.” He assures that, to date, he knows nothing about the owners of the premises.
“All the waiters are very affected,” he says. The young woman explains that this winter she had done remodeling work on the premises, but that it had only affected the external appearance of the terrace, not the rest of the building. Firefighters and police continue working in the area, which is cordoned off, while tourists sunbathe in front of the premises. Many curious onlookers have come to the street, since the place is located in one of the main tourist areas of Palma.