Seven years have passed yesterday since a tragedy that shocked the island of Tenerife and the entire country, and which made the front pages of the main national media. The clocks marked 9:31 a.m. on April 14, 2016 when the Julián José building suddenly collapsed, a five-story residential block located in the heart of Los Cristianos, in the municipality of Arona.
The collapse of the building on Amalia Alayón street claimed seven lives – in the first hours an even greater number of victims was feared, since 28 people slept the night before in the 24 homes – and forced the eviction of another ninety of the buildings adjoining More than 250 troops formed the rescue operation, including a company from the Military Emergency Unit (UME). The search for the victims lasted several days.
The five floors collapsed like a house of cards and the building was reduced to a huge mountain of rubble, burying the lives of Mariflor González, 71, Antonio Jesús García (55), Noemi Ruiz (29), Hanan Mrabet (41 ), Graziella Fagnoli (77), Alessandro Locatelli (41) and Markku Tappinen (72).
The criminal case was filed by court number 3 of Arona in July 2018. The investigating judge and the Provincial Prosecutor’s Office report attributed the collapse to a set of causes. The measure was appealed by the Arona City Council before the Provincial Court, which dismissed the municipal allegations and confirmed the file in September 2021.
Last January, the Court of First Instance number 4 of Arona admitted for processing a civil lawsuit filed by five affected. Four of them claim for the death of a direct family member. Two were homeowners.
TRIBUTE
The mayor of Arona, José Julián Mena, yesterday presided over the act of the seventh anniversary of the tragedy, which was also attended by several members of the municipal corporation, as well as the president of the neighborhood community, Ánima Marrero, relatives of the deceased and representatives of the emergency personnel who participated in the rescue tasks.
The attendees observed a minute of silence and placed a bouquet of flowers and several candles on the wall that surrounds the site of the damaged building. Subsequently, the singer-songwriter Ramón Domínguez performed a song in memory of the victims of the tragedy.
