Los Alfaques disaster

At 10:15 am, Villena arrived at the state-owned Enpetrol refinery, located at La Pobla de Mafumet, 9 km north of Tarragona, to be loaded with liquefied propylene for another state-owned company, Paular (now Repsol), in Puertollano. At 12:05 pm the fully laden truck left the refinery carrying 23.47 t (25.87 short tons; 23,470 kg) of propylene which was more than 4 tons over the maximum design load for the tanker (which was 19.35 t (21.33 short tons; 19,350 kg))[2] The tanker drivers were under instructions to take the smaller N-340 national road instead of the A-7. In the late 1970s, the N-340 was still a narrow and winding coastal road that passed directly through several densely populated urban areas.

The daily temperature for this part of Spain in Summer was between 20 °C (68 °F) and 35 °C (95 °F), this would mean the internal pressure within the tanker could have been between 1,200–1,700 kPa (170–250 psi).[3]

By 2:35pm the truck was driving past the Los Alfaques campsite after travelling 102 km (63 mi) from the Enpetrol oil refinery at La Pobla de Mafumet.[4] The time is known because Villena's watch - which was found still attached to his burned wrist - had stopped at 2:36pm.[4] The tightly packed campsite was crowded with nearly 1,000 holidaymakers, many Germans and other foreign tourists, in trailers and tents.

Several reports from surviving witnesses corroborate roughly the same story, that as the tanker passed the site it was leaking liquefied gas. However, some witnesses thought it was already leaking while others thought they heard a loud bang that preceded the leak starting. The bang might have been caused by a blown tire which caused the truck to swerve and crash into the wall separating the campsite from the roadside (possibly overturning in the process).[4] Within seconds the highly flammable propylene started to rapidly escape from the stopped tanker. It formed a white cloud that partially drifted into the campsite and towards a discothèque to the northeast. Numerous intrigued campers approached the cloud with curiosity as it continued to spread; eventually it became so dense that many were unable to see the tanker. Within moments of the cloud reaching the discothèque, a flash occurred caused by an unknown ignition source. This flash returned to the source instantaneously causing the weakened tanker to explode, igniting its entire load of propylene.

The ensuing blast and fireball destroyed everything – cars, trailers and buildings – within a 90 m (300 ft) radius, charred everything within a 300 m (980 ft) radius, gutting over 90% of the main camping area. The 400 m² (4,300 sq ft) discothèque to the northeast, which was later determined to be the likely source of the ignition, was also razed, killing all the staff members inside. Additionally, 34 vehicles and 21 tents were burnt out, a restaurant partially collapsed, and the tanker truck was broken into three main pieces. The fireball blast, which was estimated to have reached a temperature of about 1,000 °C (1,830 °F), created a shallow crater that was 20 m × 1.5 m [65 ft × 5 ft].[2]

The explosion and fireball instantly killed the driver and other people within the area. A total of 157 people died on site as a result of the initial explosion and the subsequent fires and explosions of cars and gas cylinders used by the tourists. Victims were seen with their hair and clothing on fire, fleeing into the sea in an attempt to put out the flames.

In the first 45 minutes after the disaster, the wounded were removed in an uncoordinated fashion with the help of other survivors using their own cars and vans. Locals also provided help and took the wounded to the hospitals. Ambulances and other emergency forces gradually arrived. The Civil Guard and the armed forces searched the devastated camp for survivors. It took three hours until the last of the wounded were removed and taken to hospital.

The burning tanker blocked the road, dividing the injured into two groups, one being taken northwards and the other southwards. On the road to the north, the injured received adequate medical care, once they had reached either the hospitals at Amposta or at Tortosa. At this stage, the final destination of 58 severely burned patients was the Francisco Franco Hospital in Barcelona. 82 severely burned patients were taken south to the La Fe Hospital in Valencia. In most cases no medical steps of any importance were taken during the journey. Several of the injured developed severe shock on the journey and had no measurable blood pressure on arrival. Many of the patients had burns covering more than 90% of their bodies, and most of them died during the following days. Contributing to the high mortality figure was the inappropriate medical care given en route to the hospital.[5]

In the week following the disaster, the patients from France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands were evacuated to their own countries.

More than 300 people were wounded, some of them severely. Initially 217 people died directly from the explosion (four Spaniards including the driver, all the others were foreign nationals), while the total number of people who died in the following months as a result of their injuries rose to at least 270. The official figure for the number of victims is 215.[6]

Many of the victims were burned beyond recognition. Identification was difficult, as most of them were wearing only swimming suits, and the administration building where their documents were stored was destroyed in the explosion. There was no DNA test available at that time. As a result of the work done by the forensic teams from the tourists' home countries, all victims were eventually identified.

Seven of the victims remained unidentified until some time later, and they were interred at the cemetery of Tortosa, Tarragona. The bodies of a French family, consisting of a couple and their two children, were returned to France some years later, after compensation had been settled. The bodies of another family of three originating from Colombia were never sent home, and they remain the only foreigners to be interred at the cemetery of Tortosa along with local victims.[7]