The collapse of a nightclub under construction at the Seabank Hotel “affected” the soundness of a number of other structures on site, preventing any work from continuing until further notice.
The site has been shut off completely until the necessary remedial measures are put in place, according to the Occupational Health and Safety Authority.
Investigators have not yet determined what led to the collapse on Tuesday morning, which killed Latvian construction worker Maksims Artamonovs, 27, one of 400 men involved in the renovation at the massive Għadira complex.
The project supervisors and architects responsible must declare the site’s safety and structural solidity before work could continue but “steps are already being taken”, the OHSA said.
Its CEO, Mark Gauci pointed out that the OHSA’s responsibility in such cases was to determine whether there were any breaches of regulations that led or contributed directly to the collapse.
“Legally, it is not the OHSA’s responsibility to certify safety. Our duty is to ensure that such certification, by competent persons as identified by the law itself, is in fact carried out,” Dr Gauci said.
Mr Artamonovs, whose parents arrived in Malta yesterday to make the funeral arrangements, was buried under the rubble when two roofs collapsed. His body was found after a search that lasted 18 hours and also involved the use of two sniffer dogs. He was dismantling scaffolding in the car park below the nightclub when the building collapsed.
Sources said yesterday Mr Artamonovs was wearing a safety helmet, which was found cracked in half, indicating that he probably died instantly of head wounds.
Architect and court expert Robert Musumeci said a structure could collapse for different reasons, though he could not comment on this particular case.
He said structures could give way if their shape did not withstand gravity or the underlying foundations were somehow shaken. “For example, exposed clay foundations are subjected to continuous volume changes due to variation in temperature conditions. Exposed fissured rock may also give way if the unrestrained rock planes undergo lateral movement.” he said. Usually, such changes are translated into cracks in the structure but, in “extreme” situations, the building may give way entirely.
Buildings could also cave in if the structure is not capable of withstanding its own weight or that of “external forces”, such as heavy loads.
“One must make sure the building structure is suitably designed to carry the intended loading safely. The architect must resort to structural calculations to establish the intensity of the loading to be supported, the way the load is distributed and the type and performance of structural materials tobe employed.”
The structure may still fall if the material used becomes defective by time. “The same applies if the design is correct but the material has not developed the required strength assumed in the calculations,” Mr Musumeci explained.
Hotel owner Silvio Debono said on Wednesday he was assured the work was being done as it should, “100 per cent”.
Fatal collapses
The Seabank Hotel incident brought back memories of others in the recent past:
June 3, 2004: An apartment block collapsed in St Paul’s Bay killing two women: retired teacher Mary Zarb, 60, and Russian student Nadya Vavilova, 24. In 2009, the owner of the plot was jailed for three years for negligence. A construction worker was jailed for 18 months for removing the bearing surface of a supporting wall near the block, causing the collapse. The building contractor was acquitted because he had warned the owner that work was being carried out against regulations. The architect had also warned the owner not to let the con-struction worker remove the bearing surface.
May 22, 2003: Joseph Sammut, 48, died after the roof of a garage in Żebbiegħ he was working on, caved in.
April 12, 2000: Rita Vella, 84, died when part of her house in Sliema collapsed. The house stood near a building plot where excavation works were being carried out.