Building collapse strikes fear of shabby constructions

Santo Domingo.- Saturday night’s collapse of a five story building in the Ensanche Ozama sector stemmed from flaws in construction, affirmed Urban Planning official Miguelina Santana.

The incident has renewed fears of major collapses on shabby constructions and lack of adequate oversight.

Santana said according to information gathered on site, the building was heard cracking bit by bit until collapsing and the manner in which it occurred points to faulty footers that led to the failure.

The official, quoted by news source elcaribe.com.do, added that Urban Planning approved the building’s construction in 2007, though the structural part is handled by Public Works Ministry.

The construction workers reportedly told the engineers of the cracks some time ago.

“I was aware that a column of the building had bee lowering and they were repairing it, they were aware that they had to do something,” said Cecilia Cayetano, owner of one of the affected houses.

There were no victims, but a house next door was also flattened.