Aberdeen Evening Express columnist Moreen Simpson escaped injury when a three-storey Majorcan hotel block collapsed.

Amazingly, not one of the 22 rooms in the block at the Hotel Picafort Park was occupied when the building caved in.

Moreen, who was staying at the hotel with her husband Richard told reporters that many people were in shock, but hugely relieved when it filtered through that nobody was lying under the rubble.

In all, Thomson Holidays had 400 clients staying at the eight-block hotel.

Around 15 rooms were wiped out, leaving 54 guests without any belongings.

All of the holidaymakers at the couples-only hotel were British and many were Scottish. Tour reps gathered all the guests in the bar and doctors gave first aid to those in shock.

The incident happened while most guests were in the hotel dining room for their evening meals. It is at the opposite side of the hotel to the wing which crashed to the ground.

Guests said they heard glass smashing but were initially unaware of the scale of the incident. They only realised what had happened when they heard ambulances arriving.

Moreen said: “We just couldn’t believe our eyes. The whole of the E block was reduced to a pile of rubble and mangled steel. At first we thought there must have been people trapped and panic swept through the guests.”

They were later told an architect had checked the hotel and that they were being moved out.

They were told to pack overnight bags if their belongings hadn’t been buried under concrete and were then taken by bus to other hotels on the resort in the north-east of the island.

Thomson said the incident is being fully investigated but no cause is yet known for the collapse which happened on Thursday at 8.15pm.

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