Victim's pet dog survives

A hungry but otherwise unharmed dog was recovered yesterday from the ruins of the apartment block in St Paul's Bay which collapsed on Thursday, killing two women - Mary Zarb, a 60-year-old widow and retired teacher, and Russian interpreter Nadya Vavilova, 24.

The dog, Mrs Zarb's pet, was recovered from under a bed by personnel of the Civil Protection Department. Operations yesterday focused on the recovery of belongings from the apartments and the demolition of the remaining block, which had constituted a danger.

The victims' corpses were removed from the rubble early on Friday morning. Vavilova was taking private lessons in Maltese from Mrs Zarb when the tragedy occurred.

The building, in Ramon Perellos Street, crumbled at about 3.30 p.m. on Thursday as the two women were in Mrs Zarb's first floor flat.

The police are investigating the circumstances that led to the collapse and on Friday interrogated a contractor, an architect and a number of men involved in works at an adjacent plot.

CPD director Peter Cordina told The Sunday Times that possessions started being retrieved from the rubble during yesterday's operation.

Support structures were also erected in the block adjacent to the ill-fated building to avoid further incidents.