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Date Published: 24/06/2021
ARCHIVED - Over 160 calls to emergency services on Noche de San Juan in Region of Murcia
Most of the incidents were in the municipalities of Murcia and Cartagena, where there were more than double the usual number of incidents despite Covid restrictions
Emergency services in the Region of Murcia attended a total of 167 calls on the night of San Juan, most of which were concerning bonfires, despite the many restrictions and complete bans imposed on this year’s celebrations.
In total officers and firefighters responded to 116 different incidents during the evening of June 23 and the early hours of the next morning (June 24), most of which had to do with bonfires (71) or public disorder (30).
The most affected municipalities were Cartagena, with 80 emergency service interventions, and Murcia, with 24. In Murcia, the most notable incidents were in Los Garres y Lages, where there were several bonfires close to the mountain which had to be extinguished, and in Puerto Lumbreras, where firefighters had to extinguish a cypress hedge.
Meanwhile, in Cartagena, the authorities had to extinguish 66 fires in a dozen different neighbourhoods and, in Nueva Cartagena, there was a violent incident in which police officers had rocks thrown at them.
Most of the fires were in Nueva Cartagena and La Vaguada and the majority of the bonfires affected shrubbery in different wasteland areas (39). In addition, 18 rubbish bins and four trees were set alight, and the emergency services also reported an incident in which an animal had to be rescued as well as several house fires.
There were no notable incidents reported in the coastal areas of the municipality of Cartagena asd the normal beach bonfires had been banned.
According to municipal sources, this year there were nearly double the average number of incidents, despite traditional bonfires and gatherings being prohibited in several municipalities.
Before the pandemic, the average number of incidents attended by the emergency services in Cartagena on the night of San Juan was 45.
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