Mother of two dies in Santa Venera home collapse

A 54-year-old mother of two died yesterday when a substantial part of her Santa Venera home collapsed.

The building, located in Joseph Abela Scolari Street, and which is adjacent to a constructrion site, collapsed at around 2.15pm.

The body of Miriam Pace was located at around 10pm and was retreived around 15 minutes later, a police spokesperson has confirmed.

The body was taken to the mortuary, where investigations will continue.

Members of the Civil Protection Department mounted a search that lasted just under eight hours, using a drone and sniffer dogs. A crane was also being operated to remove the heavier parts of the fallen building to enable the CPD personnel to carry out their search better.

Photographs and footage of the scene showed that part of the residence gave way, falling into an adjacent empty plot. A car could also be seen parked under debris in a garage which formed part of the house.

People who live in the vicinity said that they heard a loud noise, which they thought was an explosion or an earthquake. One of the people who live nearby commented that she rushed to the balcony to see a huge plume of dust.

A police spokesman said that people in residences touching the building that collapsed had been evacuated.

According to reports, a number of people involved in the construction project were interrogated by the police, but a spokesperson said this could not be confirmed, also because of the ongoing magisterial inquiry.

Relatives and friends of the woman gathered on site following the search operation. Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition Leader Adrian Delia both visited the area and spoke to the relatives.

Abela said that it was still early to comment on the accident, adding he was shocked to hear the news.

Delia expressed solidarity with the family affected by the tragedy. Whilst noting that accidents like this one are becoming more common, the PN said that all efforts now should be put into finding the missing woman.

A magisterial inquiry led by Magistrate Claire Stafrace Zammit is underway.

Last year, several buildings collapsed, pushing the government to present a reform of the construction industry.

In April, an apartment block, located on Guardamanga Hill, Pieta, collapsed, luckily injuring no-one.

In June, a wall of a block of apartments in Pieta, border with Hamrun, also gave way, again injuring no-one.

That same month, a four-storey building collapsed in Main Street, Mellieħa.

Chance of adjacent property collapse ‘minimal’ - method statement

According to the method statement submitted for the project, the chance of any unplanned collapse of third party properties at the site was “minimal.”

A method statement is submitted for each phase of the project prior to the commencement of works, as stipulated in the regulations which came into force last year. The laws regulating construction sites were changed in 2019 following a spate of building collapses.

The method statement for the excavation phase of this particular project, in the part on the identification of risks involved, says: “The adjacent properties are low-lying structures, and as a result there are no major loads imposed on the rock surface for the time being. Consequently, the chance of any unplanned collapse of the third party structures is a minimum….”

According to the document, the excavation works were to start on 1 February of this year.

The law stipulates that detailed information should be given in the method statement about the areas which could be affected by the excavation. The only statement included in the method statement uploaded on the Planning Authority website is that there are “Low lying properties around the perimeter of the site.”

Construction industry sources noted the lack of detail in the method statement and the apparent lack of geotechnical information in it.

MDA suspends investor involved

The Malta Developers Association (MDA) said it had suspended one of its members, who is involved as an investor in the project, with immediate effect.

MDA said it was shocked and concerned about the accident and was “taking the necessary measures to help out in the difficult situation.”

“Without entering into the merits of this particular event, which are still to be established, the MDA feels that the immediate suspension of its member is the right ethical step in the circumstances until more clarity is established,” the association said.

“While sending a message of zero tolerance to all those who do not follow the rules, the MDA’s decision will be revised and decided upon, once all the facts of what actually happened are known.”

The MDA said it had taken it upon itself to provide temporary shelter to the innocent victims of this incident.