Police on the Costa del Sol have launched an investigation after a married couple and their daughter were crushed to death by hundreds of kilos of clothes they had hoarded in their home.
The bodies of the man and wife, aged 49 and 50, together with their 12-year-old daughter, were found by their other child, a girl of 18, in Alicante.
It is believed they were either crushed or suffocated by the mountain of clothes they had apparently collected in their house over a number of years.
Investigators believe the bodies of a family they found in their first floor apartment in Spain were crushed or suffocated by the clothes they had hoarded in their flat (file photo)
Investigators say part of the floor of the first-floor apartment of the flat caved in due to the weight and the three victims were buried under the clothes.
The freak accident happened between 8am and 9am in Avenida Alcoi but it was not discovered until 1pm by the surviving 18-year-old daughter.
The married couple suffered ‘a kind of Diogenes Syndrome, which led them to compulsively accumulate all kinds of clothing,’ according to sources.
Spanish newspapers say the older girl was in an adjoining room and was still asleep because she had been surfing the internet until the early hours of the morning. When she woke up, she saw that the floor had collapsed to the ground floor below.
When she lifted the clothes, she saw her sister’s arm and called the police.
Rescuers had to remove a massive amount of clothes and other items to free the bodies.
The freak accident took place in family’s apartment in the port town of Alicante, Spain (pictured). Firefighters from Alicante had to be called in to help
Firefighters from Alicante had to be called in to help.
The tiny flat occupied less than 60 square metres of space and the weight of the clothes is believed to have affected the rest of the structure.
It is understood that neither the sleeping daughter or neighbours heard anything.
One local resident said: ‘From the back of the house, you can see the balcony and there were stacks and stacks of boxes right up to the top.’
An autopsy is being carried out on the three victims to determine if they died from asphyxiation.
The deceased were Spanish, of Moroccan origin, and were described by neighbours as ‘very pleasant and quiet.’
[Daily Mail UK]
