A 19-year-old Frenchman was crushed by a wall that collapsed in the garden of a Swieqi maisonette where he was partying with friends on Monday night, which was to be their first fun holiday night in Malta.

Quentin Michel died from multiple internal injuries he sustained when the wall, which was still under construction, fell on him, sources said. It is not clear whether the young man leaned against the wall or climbed on it, sources said.

A witness, who preferred not to be named, said Mr Michel had arrived earlier on Monday with a group of French friends. They were renting out the Swieqi maisonette that had a garden area with a pool.

On Monday night the group were having a party in the garden and, sometime around midnight, people in the area heard “a loud crashing sound” and realised something was wrong. The witness, who was close by, said he went to help out and saw the young man crushed under the wall.

“It was quite horrific,” he said adding that some people there told him Mr Michel had leaned against the wall, while others said he climbed on it before it gave way.

The wall seemed to be still under construction, as it did not seem to be cemented, and it looked like some form of structure was being built within the garden, he said.

Sources said a nurse, who lives nearby, intervened to help Mr Michel and administered cardio pulmonary resuscitation.

In a statement, police said the ambulance was quick to turn up and took Mr Michel to Mater Dei Hospital where he was later certified dead.

Magistrate Giovanni Grixti is carrying out an inquiry and appointed several court experts to assist him.

This was the second tragic death of a young foreigner on the island in the span of a week. Last Wednesday 14-year-old German Johannes Werner Stenzel died after he fell from an eighth floor hotel room in Paceville.