A 54-year-old British man has been found dead in a private hospital in Benidorm after apparently becoming trapped and suffocating.
According to reports, the man had been admitted as a patient and is believed to have left his room on February 7, following a procedure the day before.
His trapped body was discovered face down four days later, on February 11.
Initially, staff believed the patient had left voluntarily, as he had done during a previous visit in October.
But police later located the body on the sixth floor in a restricted construction zone, reports local newspaper Informacion.
He was trapped in a narrow space between a metal platform and the wall of a service shaft containing electrical cabling.
Investigators considered the possibility of electrocution, but this was ruled out after it was confirmed that none of the cables were damaged or carried sufficient voltage to cause death.
An autopsy carried out at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Alicante confirmed that the cause of death was asphyxiation.
One line of investigation suggests the patient may have entered the area to retrieve a personal belonging and became trapped face down, unable to free himself.
Family raised the alarm
The alarm was raised by the man’s wife on February 7 when she visited the hospital after work and found his room empty.
After being told he may have left without discharge, she searched the hospital and later checked their home and other familiar locations.
When she was unable to find him, she reported him missing to the National Police in Benidorm. Officers reviewed CCTV footage and established that he had been seen walking around the hospital appearing disoriented, but there was no evidence he had exited the building.
Police then carried out a full search of the premises, eventually discovering personal items – including a jacket and phone – before finding his body concealed in the installations area.
The case remains under investigation, but authorities have ruled out foul play.
