SPANISH SOLDIERS have made horrific discoveries while checking and disinfecting buildings across the country.
Soldiers have been dispatched to several retirement homes in the country to check on residents and disinfect buildings, and have found a number of people abandoned within the buildings.
At least 17 people were found dead in one care home in Madrid, RTÉ reports, with dozens of deaths recorded at nursing homes across Spain and some elderly people found dead in their own beds at home.
Spain's general prosecutor has confirmed that a full-scale investigation has been launched into the deaths of these vulnerable people.
Members of the Spanish Army's Military Emergency Unit (UME) wearing protective suits stand outside the Palacio de Hielo (Ice Palace) shopping mall where an ice rink was turned into a temporary morgue on March 24, 2020 in Madrid to deal with a surge in deaths in the Spanish capital due to the coronavirus. (Photo by PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU/AFP via Getty Images)Defence Minister Margarita Robles detailed the situation to Spanish news channel Telecinco, where she said:
"We are going to be strict and inflexible when dealing with the way old people are treated in these residences."
"The army, during certain visits, found some old people completely abandoned, sometimes even dead in their beds."
“We’re going to be very blunt and implacable over this and we have a very clear message: the full weight of the law will fall on those who don’t meet their obligations,” she added.
Spain is one of the worst-hit countries by the coronavirus pandemic, with over 30,000 confirmed cases and over 2,000 deaths.
An ice-rink in the Spanish capital of Madrid is currently being used as a mortuary to help tackle the strain the country's services are under due to the rapidly rising cases.
