A Spanish court has opened a “manslaughter” investigation into a nightclub fire that killed 13 people.

A Spanish court has launched a “manslaughter” investigation after a massive fire killed 13 people at a nightclub in Murcia.

The investigating judge of the Murcia court “will be responsible for leading the investigation with a view to clarifying the facts and determining, if necessary, criminal liability,” the press release said.

The magistrate “is currently awaiting the completion of the identification” of the victims and the results of the “autopsy” and will “report to the court the cause and circumstances of death,” the same document also states.

The Murcia municipality said on Monday that the nightclub where the fire broke out around 6:00 am on Sunday (5:00 am in Lisbon) had been the subject of an administrative closure order since last year, but that the order had not been lifted. implemented.

The establishment’s management stated that the club was “fine”.

“No one told us that the current license no longer existed,” said lawyer Francisco Adan.

Murcia regional prosecutor José Luis Díaz Manzanera said sentences in the case could reach nine years in prison, “given the large number of victims.”

The investigation will determine whether “there was a lack of preventive measures” against the fires, Manzanera told local newspaper La Opinion de Murcia.

“It is also possible that there was a short circuit that was not caused by a lack of preventive measures,” he added.