Building kills young man

A YOUNG man of 28 who was wounded when a chunk of balcony fell on him while he was having a drink on a street bar terrace in Madrid has died.

He was immediately taken to the Gregorio Marañon hospital, unconscious, and died later of his wounds.

The victim was having a drink with another young man, 27, on a bar’s terrace when several lumps of concrete fell on both of them, from the eighth floor of the building, in the Arguelles area of the capital at around 8pm.

The victim’s friend suffered only light cuts and bruises to his left arm while he was hit directly on the head and had a severe, open gash on his scalp, he was stabilised at the scene of the accident and taken to the hospital, unconscious, in a critical condition.

The Madrid fire brigade has been inspecting the building, an office block with no residents, and making sure that none of the other balconies might be in danger of having the outer skin of the building flake off and fall to the street.

The building had passed its last technical inspections in 2001 and 2011 with no problems at all according to the office of technical inspections and urban development of Madrid Council.

Building inspectors and the fire brigade continue to investigate the cause of the accident.