Two residents rescued and thirteen evacuated after a building collapsed in Sallent.

BarcelonaThe collapse of a building in Sallent triggered alarms early Tuesday morning, requiring rapid response from the fire department. In total, two more people were rescued and 13 other residents had to be treated and evacuated due to the collapse of a block in the town of Bages, according to the Generalitat Fire Department, which mobilized five units.

Sallent City Council technicians accessed the building this morning to conduct an initial assessment of the damage. According to the preliminary report, the property shows no structural damage and will not require demolition. However, the mayor, Oriol Ribalta, regrets that the residents will not be able to return home "in the short term." The council has activated the protocol to guarantee them accommodation while the situation lasts. Immediate work will focus on shoring up the building so residents can access their homes and recover belongings. According to the mayor, the age of the building is the main cause of the disaster.

Specifically, the incident occurred at around 12:40 a.m., when the third floor of a building partially collapsed onto the second floor. The building consists of a ground floor and three upper floors, located on Secretari Bonet Street in the city. Firefighters were able to rescue two people who had been trapped inside the building, but who were not injured as a result of the collapse. The fire department also conducted a search to prevent further casualties, according to a statement released on social media.

Alfonso González, 71, is a second-floor resident and one of those affected who experienced it firsthand. "I was sitting in the dining room. I'd already had dinner, and I heard something strange, but nothing. Then I got up and at that moment the entire ceiling fell, and the man upstairs too," he told ACN. Despite all the dust from the collapse, he could see he had a cut on his leg and helped him. When the paramedics arrived, they took him to the hospital. "He's fine," he says, adding that the dining room was completely destroyed.

Still reeling from fear, he explains that he's been very lucky. Regarding the building, he explained that a dozen people live there and it's over 50 years old. He has no record of any major renovations being done recently. "I haven't been able to pick anything up, nor can I now," he lamented.