The construction site collapse that killed Jean Paul Sofia saw the built structure come down in “four or five seconds” a court expert testified on Monday. 

Alex Torpiano, a professor of architecture, elaborated on the reasons why the timber factory in Corradino collapsed in December 2022, saying that the slenderness of the longest wall, coupled with the walls not being properly bound together were principally what caused the incident. 

He was testifying in the case against Kurt Buhagiar, Matthew Schembri, Adriana Zammit, Milomir Jovicevic and Dijana Jovicevic who have been charged with Sofia’s involuntary homicide. They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges. 

Sofia’s mother, Isabelle Bonnici, sat silently in the courtroom, tears rolling down her face, as Torpiano exhibited footage and images that showed every second of the collapse that killed her son.  

He said that the evidence showed that the wall had started to bulge outwards before it buckled. There was also ample evidence that the double wall had not been bound together as it ought to have been. Should these have been bound, they would have made the structure some four times stronger than it was. 

An internal supporting wall was also found to not be properly connected to the staircase. 

The wall of another facade, which had been designed to include windows, was found to be only 25 per cent of the thickness that it should have been based on its height and length. 

Torpiano said he had considered all options as to how the collapse occurred and looked into the possibility of the roof having collapsed first and took the walls with it. 

However, upon inspection, Torpinano said he found that fresh concrete had been laid on the roof before the collapse and that some of it had gone down the side of the facade and dried among the debris, indicating that the wall had collapsed first. 

“For a building like this to collapse in four or five seconds, is not normal, there was a lack of binding between key structural elements that caused it to happen,” he said. 

“When it comes to the ceiling there should have been enough metal in there to keep some of the debris in place, but the fact that all of it collapsed indicates that it was not there.” 

Torpiano also mentioned that a document preserved as evidence in the inquiry was found to contain a set of standards for brick buildings. This indicated that whoever had compiled them had been aware of the existence of standards. 

He explained that the wall was not thick enough for its height and length. This concept is calculated in a mathematical concept known as the moment of inertia. 

The fact that the walls weren’t bound together as they should have been had made the situation “worse” he said.

Such binding could be achieved by builders when bricks were placed at a 90-degree angle so that they intersected between the two walls, Torpiano said, adding that more modern techniques included the use of steel binding. 

He said that the architect’s original plans had indicated that she did plan on including these bindings but there had not been any instructions left as to how these should have been included and were ultimately not carried out. 

Untrained workers

Torpiano also described how, of the four workers on the site, only one received training about construction in Malta, which turned out to be a half day’s worth of instruction, on a topic that the worker could not recall the contents of. 

The other workers told him that they had no prior experience in the construction industry.

Despite her intentions, it seemed to Torpiano that the architect had not visited the site as frequently as she should have and see how the work was progressing. 

The case will continue on March 20.

Police inspectors Paul Camilleri and Antonello Magri are prosecuting.

Lawyers Joe Giglio and David Bonello are representing Isabelle Bonnici and John Sofia, the parents of the victim, as parte civile. 

Lawyers Franco Debono, Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri are representing the developers, Kurt Buhagiar and Matthew Schembri. Steven Tonna Lowell is representing architect Adriana Zammit. Lawyer Timothy Bartolo is assisting building contractors Miromir and Dijana Jovicevic.