4 missing after Madrid building partly collapses after ‘enormous explosion’

Spanish emergency services were scrambling to find four people who went missing after a building under construction in Madrid city centre collapsed on Tuesday, injuring several workers, authorities said.

Emergency services said on social media that firefighters were working at the scene near the Plaza Mayor, which is popular with tourists, “after the collapse of various floor slabs”.

The central government’s top representative in the Madrid region, Francisco Martin Aguirre, told reporters at the scene that the collapse “caused the different floors to also give way down to the basement of the building”.

“The damage there is very severe, and the possible impact on adjacent buildings is also being analysed,” he said.

Madrid’s municipal police said neighbouring buildings were being evacuated.

The total number of injuries was unclear.