Search for clues under the rubble

Excavation works at the site of the collapsed St Paul's Bay apartment block and police investigations to determine the circumstances that led to Thursday's fatal collapse are still underway.

The building in Ramon Perellos Street came down in a thunderous roar on Thursday, killing two women - a 60-year-old widow and retired teacher, Mary Zarb, and her student, a Russian interpreter, Nadya Vavilova, 24.

Civil Protection Department director Peter Cordina said the excavation works, which started on Friday - the day after the building fell, were being carried out under the surveillance of the police, court experts and the CPD.

The remaining top part of the building, which posed a danger, was demolished, rubble was being removed and personal belongings recovered and returned to the families of the victims.

Mr Cordina said it was hard to tell when the excavation works would be completed.

The corpses of the victims, who were in the first-floor flat at the time of the collapse, were removed from beneath the rubble early on Friday morning - 12 hours after the building crumbled at about 3.30 p.m. on Thursday.

The police have interviewed a contractor, an architect in charge of construction works next to the collapsed building and a number of men involved in works at the adjacent plot.

They are carrying out investigations to determine whether the collapsed structure was in line with building regulations.

The apartment block was situated next to a plot where work was in progress to lay the foundations for a new building. On Thursday morning, workers were engaged in excavation works close to the wall of the collapsed building in preparation for the laying of the foundations.