A woman who suffered life-changing burns after being doused in petrol and set alight during a supposedly ‘hardcore’ escape room experience in Andalucia has relived the horrifying ordeal in court.
The victim, identified only as Ana to protect her identity, was left with burns covering 40% of her body after attending the attraction known as Villa Amparo, on the outskirts of Cajar, near Granada, in June 2022.
She has since undergone numerous operations, suffers permanent physical and psychological injuries and can no longer go outdoors without protecting herself from the sun because of the damage to her skin.
Now, four years later, the owner of the escape room business and one of its employees are standing trial accused of causing serious injuries through negligence.
Ana had initially filed a civil suit asking for €2million in compensation, but that has now been paused until the criminal trial is complete.
Villa Amparo marketed itself as an ‘extreme’ or ‘hardcore’ escape room, promising an immersive horror experience inside a dilapidated country house.
Participants were warned only that they might damage their clothes and were advised to wear old garments.
According to prosecutors, the game took a terrifying turn when Ana was tied to a chair as part of one of the challenges before being drenched with what staff believed was a mixture of water and a small amount of petrol.
Instead, prosecutors claim, she was soaked in almost pure petrol.
Ana told the court she repeatedly warned staff that the liquid ‘smelled strongly’ of fuel, but says her concerns were ignored.
An employee then allegedly lit a cigarette lighter and held it close to her.
Ana managed to blow out the flame twice, but on the third attempt, her body caught fire.
Human fireball
Prosecutors say the employee had earlier gagged Ana and tied her to the chair as part of the role-play before igniting the lighter.
Ana was rushed to the Virgen del Rocio Hospital in Sevilla, where she was admitted to its specialist burns unit with second-degree burns to her face, neck, arms, chest, abdomen and legs.
The injuries have left her unable to work and with permanent scarring and severe psychological trauma.
The Granada Public Prosecutor’s Office is seeking prison sentences of two and three years for the two defendants.
They argue the pair failed in ‘the most basic duties of care’ by not checking the composition of the flammable liquid before using it during the attraction.
The prosecution also alleges participants were never asked to sign informed consent forms explaining the nature of the activities or the risks involved.
Safety failures
The case has also revealed a series of alleged safety failings at the venue.
According to court documents, there were no clearly marked emergency exits, doors and windows were locked during the experience, and the fire extinguishers available were not suitable for fuel fires.
There was also no panic button or emergency stop system allowing participants to end the game if they felt they were in danger.
Sources close to the case described Villa Amparo as having ‘hardly any legal paperwork’, despite openly advertising online and regularly posting photos of satisfied customers on social media.
The attraction offered two horror-themed escape room experiences, ‘La Nonna’, launched in 2017, and ‘La Venganza de Miquelle’, introduced in 2020.
Ana had previously completed the first experience and returned with five friends on June 27, 2022, to try the second.
The defence has argued that the same fuel mixture had been used safely ‘around 500 times’ before the accident.
According to those present in court, the defendants claimed that ‘someone must have made a mistake’ when preparing the liquid that night.
The judge is expected to deliver a verdict after considering the evidence presented during the trial.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
