Walter Finch
A BRITISH immigrant has described the terrifying moment a bar explosion rocked her Spanish neighbourhood, saying it felt ‘like a terrorist attack’ as chaos erupted around her.
Lisa, 51, was in her kitchen in San Pedro del Pinatar (Mar Menor) when an explosion in a bar went off on June 19, killing two women and injuring around 20 others.
“It sounded like a terror attack, like a bomb had gone off,” the real estate worker told the Olive Press.
“It was a sound that was really, really scary. We all jumped out of our skins, absolutely not having a clue what had just happened.”
READ MORE: Two people die one week after bar explosion in Spain’s Mar Menor area
The blast occurred in the Lo Pagan area whilst the weekly street market was taking place outside on Avenida Salvillo, with two market stalls taking the brunt of the explosion.
Lisa, who lives on the same street as the bar, rushed outside to witness scenes of devastation.
“Then all of a sudden, chaos, just pure chaos,” she said. “People were screaming and shouting, and it felt to me like we were under attack.”
The British resident described seeing ‘blood, blood, blood, people covered in glass shards’ as emergency services rushed to the scene.
“There were splintered vegetables everywhere, metal – it looked like a bomb had gone off. Literally.”
British holidaymaker Debbie Scholefield was shopping at the weekly Lo Pagan street market across the road when the blast occurred.
She said it was though a bomb had gone off around her as she stood next to a clothes stall on the corner where the explosion happened.
“The stall was flattened, glass and metal flying in slow motion around me and I was thrown forward, then there were screams everywhere,” the Huddersfield resident told the Olive Press.
Her mother, who lives in Spain and was also at the market but further from the blast, escaped uninjured.
“I was so lucky – just superficial injuries – but it was traumatic for all of us, to say the least.”
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Two women who were seriously injured in the explosion both died in hospital on Thursday morning, one week after the blast.
The first victim was the 38-year-old Moroccan bar owner, who suffered serious burns and was the only person inside the premises at the time.
The second fatality was a 56-year-old Spanish woman who sustained a serious head injury whilst at the market.
The Guardia Civil’s investigation has concluded that the blast was deliberate, with experts finding a cut to the rubber casing on a gas butane cylinder.
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” said Lisa.
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The witness revealed the bar had a notorious reputation in the local community.
“It was very well known for its dealings with drugs, prostitution, that kind of thing,” she explained. “It wasn’t particularly a good place. It was not a nice place to frequent.”
Lisa’s suspicions about the cause were immediate: “My first thought was that they were cooking up some drugs in the back, and it’s all gone wrong and blew up. That’s the kind of place it was.”
She claimed that the Casa Javi bar was previously hit by a serious fire around a year ago, also affecting a home above it.
Police were regularly called out to deal with fights and residents claimed the bar had been a ‘clandestine’ brothel under previous management.
Officers had been hoping to interview the bar owner about the circumstances behind the explosion, but she never regained consciousness after suffering severe burns. This means the exact details of what happened may never be known.
The night before the explosion, San Pedro Policia Local officers encountered the bar owner on a beach, speaking to her as she was walking in a strange manner, potentially under the influence of a substance. While no crime was committed, she was apparently ‘known’ to police.
For the local community, the tragedy has been deeply felt.
“I think a lot of the community felt really terrible for the three people that were seriously injured,” said Lisa.
“The worst thing was people going out to do their vegetable shopping, browsing around the market, to realise it’s going to be the last day of their life. That’s pretty freaking awful.”
Another British holidaymaker, Debbie Cook, who was also at the market during the explosion, previously told the Olive Press it was ‘like a bomb had gone off’ around her.
The investigation continues as the community grapples with the aftermath of the devastating blast that transformed a routine market day into a scene of horror.
Click here to read more Murcia News from The Olive Press.
Strange that this report comes 9 days after the event. Old news.
Some people take a while to open up…