A crane located on a construction site just off the St Paul’s Bay bypass, and belonging to Polidano Group, buckled and bent downwards yesterday.

The incident, in which no one was injured and left no damage, happened very close to the area of the bypass which had collapsed in a landslide in 2000, caused by illegal excavations by the same company.

A woman who lives across the road from the bypass, in an area known as Tal-Fjuri, said the crane was erected “at least” four years ago.

“My balcony overlooks Xemxija bay and, right across the bypass there is the crane, probably not more than 300 metres away. It is very rusty and I’ve often commented that, one day soon, it’s going to give way,” she said.

The woman, who preferred to remain unnamed, said she noticed the long arm or jib of the crane dropped down at about 9am yesterday when she looked out of the balcony.

Later on yesterday, workers started working to repair the damage and eliminate any possible dangers.

A magisterial inquiry into the incident is going on and the Occupational Health and Safety authority is investigating the matter.

Contacted for a reaction, Polidano Group lawyer Jean Paul Sammut said he would rather not comment at this stage since the magisterial inquiry was under way and the company was still trying to establish facts.

The bypass had collapsed in 2000 following illegal excavations carried out in the adjacent land belonging to Polidano. Illegal excavations kept on going and the site gave way again in 2007, leaving a house jutting out in mid-air as the earth beneath its foundations slid downhill.

The bypass underwent a major overhaul in 2007, but the stretch of collapsed road remained closed to traffic, sectioned off with barriers that were finally removed in 2009.

Polidano Group was in the media spotlight in January over fields at Ħal Farruġ that were contaminated by a leak from a concrete plant owned by the group. The group said it would restore the fields to their original state.