DESERVING PRAISE

IT is rather unfortunate that it takes a terrible and sad incident like the one this week in Palma, which claimed the lives of seven people, to underline what first rate emergency services the city can call on. I was one of the fifty people evacuated after the building adjacent to my home collapsed early Monday morning.

The municipal police were first rate; providing information and dealing with the whole situation very professionally. The social services department of the council found shelter for all those who were evacuated within hours of the incident and remained with us for the next three days. The fire brigade and the city council planning staff also proved to be first rate. I sometimes despair when I see newspaper headlines in Britain calling everyone from a nurse to a teacher, a hero. But in the case of Palma´s emergency services I would say that all those involved were heroes. It was a very sad and dramatic day in Palma on Monday and there are still many questions which remain unanswered about the whole incident. Just how can a building in a first world nation just collapse, is a question which city council inspectors are trying to answer. But one thing for sure, Palma should be very proud of its emergency services. They are simply first rate.