A worker killed and two others injured in the collapse of the Adoratrices school in Logroño

The worker trapped under the rubble in the collapse of the interior façade of the building attached to the Adoratrices de Logroño school has been found dead, as the Logroño City Council has just officially confirmed.

The worker had been wanted since this morning, when, around a quarter to ten, a detachment of the interior side façade of the building occurred -for reasons that are being investigated-, where work was being carried out to condition a residence.

As a result of the accident, two workers were injured and had to be transferred to the San Pedro Hospital in the capital of La Rioja, one mild and the other, with a reserved prognosis, but conscious at the time of their evacuation by the emergency services.

From that moment, an attempt has been made to locate the third worker, on whom the rubble has fallen, "in a very vertical way", as the Councilor for the Interior of the Logroño City Council, Francisco Iglesias, has said.

A rescue dog from 112 and another from the Civil Guard, as well as a drone with a thermal camera from the National Police, have collaborated in locating the victim, without being able to find signs of life in the area of ​​the collapse.

Something that has led, hours later, to remove the debris manually, using machinery provided by the company in charge of the works. Finally, as confirmed a few minutes ago, the deceased victim has been located.

The councilor, Francisco Iglesias, who has been at the scene all morning, has confirmed the death of the third worker, explaining that the body has been located in the basement of the building by the City Council firefighters. For their part, the rest of the injured are evolving favorably in the Logroño hospital.

Francisco Iglesias has wanted to thank all the emergency services transferred to the place since early this morning. "They have mobilized in record time to locate the third person trapped," he said.

DEMOLITION OF THE BUILDING

As you have highlighted, after this event the entire collapsed building will be demolished, both the provisional part and the one that has been seriously affected.

At that time, and according to the information available to the City Council, work was being carried out to modify the windows but "nothing is known about the cause of the event." The investigation, he explained, will be carried out by the National Police and the labor authority, who will determine the exact causes of the accident.

In addition, Iglesias has indicated that the workers belonged to a subcontracted company.

After locating the lifeless body of the last worker, later the forensic doctor and the judicial authority will go to the scene to certify the death and the investigation will begin.

"THE GAS EXPLOSION IS RULED OUT"

For her part, the spokeswoman for the National Police, Olga Fernández Maeztu, has advanced that "now will be the time to take statements from the different technicians so that they can tell us exactly what tasks they were working on in order to determine hypotheses to see the causes of the collapse. But what is ruled out is the gas explosion".

In this sense, he points out, "the smell that could have been perceived could be due to the fact that when the building collapsed a small pipe could have broken, but this was not the cause."

On behalf of the fire brigade, the Logroño Fire Chief, Alfredo Bazo, has recounted how the arrival at the building was like once the event was reported at around 09:45 a.m. this Tuesday.

"Upon arrival we found a wounded man who had already been rescued by his own colleagues. In addition, there was another trapped victim that we were able to rescue with our means and they have taken her to the San Pedro hospital. The third victim," he says, "was not there."

A "DELICATE" RESCUE

As he explained, the rescue has been "delicate" because "we have had to work in an unstable structure. Right now the whole building is unstable."

To locate the victim, they have helped with specialized machinery as well as the canine rescue unit of the Civil Guard. After locating the body, the removal work began, which "has been very difficult and risky."

Finally, in the case of the Local Police, Hector Ruiz (chief commissioner) has told the media that after receiving the call from 112, in about 12 minutes they have moved to the place.

80 PEOPLE HAVE WORKED ON THE RESCUE

Around 70-80 people from the emergency services of the three public administrations, state, regional and local, have worked in the event and all of them, he said, "in perfect coordination".

In addition, up to six ambulances have been mobilized, two advanced life support or medicalized ambulances, the National Police, the Civil Guard, with their canine guides, and civil protection and labor inspection technicians have worked.

"All the troops have done the impossible to rescue the wounded and they have worked in perfect coordination. Regretting the deceased person."

In addition and "out of pure precaution" there has been an eviction of adjacent buildings and commercial premises and homes.

Finally, from the Logroño City Council they have wanted to reiterate again the work and effort of "all the emergency services that have been mobilized".