An explosion at the Hermanos Sirvent fireworks company’s facility in the Fontcalent neighbourhood of the municipality of Alicante has left one person missing and four people injured, one of whom is in critical condition.

According to statements made to the media, Mayor Luis Barcala verified this, stating that the critically injured individual was flown to Valencia’s La Fe Hospital. Around 11.20 am, the accident happened, and the Generalitat’s Emergency Services reported that a fire had started in the warehouse.

The mayor clarified that the Alicante City Council firefighters’ mission, aided by the Provincial Consortium’s, is to secure the entire perimeter so that they can access the hot spot where the explosion happened and, after the fire has been contained, attempt to find the missing individual.

The Alicante Local Police were the first to arrive on the scene, and according to Barcala, “they performed an absolutely heroic act” by sending police officers inside “to be able to extract the injured” from the flaming fireworks warehouse. The National Police, Civil Guard, Civil Protection, and medical personnel then showed up, along with the firefighters.

Emergencies reported at 13:05 that the CCE had activated situation 0 of the Valencian Community’s Territorial Emergency Plan (Ptecv) in response to the incident, stating that “very localised damage has occurred” and that “to control it, the activation and expansion of a local, municipal, or supra-municipal plan is sufficient.”

Two vehicles collided head-on at El Campello yesterday, Wednesday, March 5th, on the N-332 as it crosses Venta Lanuza.

The Cicu’s medical services transported the three injured individuals to various health facilities.

A 36-year-old lady with numerous bruises was sent to the Doctor Balmis General Hospital in Alicante, while a 20-year-old woman and a male were brought to a private hospital for their injuries.

Both accidents, the causes of which are being looked into, were assisted by the Guardia Civil and local police. Given that it has been raining almost all day in the region of Alicante, it is not completely ruled out that unfavourable weather conditions could have contributed to the disaster.

At Alicante-Elche Airport, EasyJet is now the second-busiest airline. Last spring, the company created a base at the Alicante terminal, which helped it raise passenger numbers by 12%.

The low-cost airline will now start two new routes with southern Europe, about a year after it first opened, as part of its ongoing investments in the El Altet airport. These are flights to Athens, one of the new destinations this summer at the airport, and Naples, which will be extended to the peak season.

EasyJet has terminated its connection to one of the UK cities, even though it increased the number of flights it operates in the spring and summer by nearly two digits compared to previous year. As a result, the airline will still operate flights to Belfast, but it will only link to Belfast City and no longer fly to Belfast International Airport.

This connection, which had two weekly frequencies and will no longer be available, was one of the new ones that came with the opening of its base. On its website, EasyJet lists three flights to Belfast George Best Airport, notwithstanding the cancellation.

Only on October 26th and 30th, as well as November 2nd, will flights from Alicante be able to reach this terminal. On the first day, the flight will leave at 7.20 am and arrive at 9.25 am. On the 30th, it will depart for Belfast at 3.30 pm and land at 5.35 pm. On Sunday, November 2nd, at 7.20 am, the final flight from Alicante will depart once more.

Nevertheless, EasyJet is expanding its frequencies in addition to keeping its connection to Belfast. It will begin operating its service to Belfast International seven days a week in March. In July, it will expand to nine weekly flights, with double frequency on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

In the lead-up to summer, Alicante-Elche airport will be cancelling more connections than just this one. Some airlines have announced the cancellation of flights to a number of their destinations, even though they are expanding during the busiest time of year.

Due to discrepancies in regional airport fees with AENA, Ryanair has discontinued its connection to Santander Airport. Additionally, it is discontinuing its route to Billund, Denmark’s LEGO city and one of its original routes in Alicante.

Another airline, Vueling, recently declared that it will be discontinuing services to a maximum of three locations. These are the links to Rome, Zurich, and Santiago. EasyJet, which has expanded to four weekly frequencies, will also operate the latter.