No one was injured when a tower crane collapsed on a building in St Julians destroying water tanks and bringing down electricity cables.

The crane toppled over at about 9 a.m. as it was transferring concrete onto a building site in Sacred Heart Avenue. It crashed onto buildings in Birkirkara Road, damaging walls, severing electricity cables and causing a power cut.

A resident in the adjoining block said she was woken up by a loud rumbling sound: "At first I thought it was an earthquake and got out of bed really quickly but my husband told me that the crane fell".

"There was a huge noise and panic. It was like an earthquake. People came running into the street," one of the residents of the damaged apartments said.

He felt the authorities should check the safety of such structures and added that it was fortunate no one was injured in the nearby Sacred Heart school. A similar incident happened in February when a tower crane fell on a convent in Safi. Nobody was hurt but the nuns in the convent were badly shaken.