Three MFCC directors and two officials were cleared of involuntarily injuring a worker when a lighting metal structure collapsed during preparations for the rock opera Ġensna 11 years ago.
A worker had sustained serious injuries and others were slightly injured when a metal arch collapsed while workers were fixing lighting and other equipment on March 17, 2014, at the Malta Fairs and Conventions Centre (MFCC).
Following a magisterial inquiry into the case, several people had been charged over the incident. These were MFCC directors Chris Vassallo, Nazzareno Vassallo and Gerald Borg, CEO Anita Mifsud and projects manager Mark Anthony Farrugia.
They pleaded not guilty to involuntarily causing serious injuries to worker Emanuel Ronayne through their negligence.
They were also charged with involuntarily causing slight injuries to other workers, causing damages to Nexos Ltd and RVC Ltd and breaching the Occupational Health and Safety Act.
Magistrate Caroline Farrugia Frendo heard how, on the day, workers were fixing lighting and other cables onto a metal arch ahead of the rock concert. The metal arch collapsed.
Ronayne was passing some cables when it happened and he felt a “sudden massive blow” that resulted in him suffering from perforated lungs, a ruptured spleen, fractured ribs on his left side as well as fractures to several vertebrae.
The magistrate heard several witnesses testify how the arch had been put in place in 2006.
It was used to affix lighting and screens and could be moved around depending on the needs of the event being organised. It moved on wheels that ran on rails and had to be dragged with fork lifters.
The same procedure of moving the arch had been used since it was set up. A couple of days before the incident the arch had been moved according to the needs of the rock concert.
Usually, lighting was then fixed according to an approved plan agreed on by Nexos, RVC and MFCC and under the supervision of an architect. In this case, the approved plan had not yet been supplied and the architect had not been appointed to supervise the works.
The magistrate ruled that, although responsible for the company, this did not mean that the accused were criminally responsible for anything that happened there.
She also noted that, according to court expert Alex Torpiano, the collapse was the result of three factors: the unbalanced loading of the arch, the way the arch was moved, and the contact between the arch’s wheels and the concrete floor. It was not clear if one or all of these factors had caused the accident.
Since the exact cause of the accident could not be pinned down, the court could not attribute blame to the directors of the MFCC or any of its workers.
Lawyer Joe Giglio represented the Vassallos, Borg and Mifsud while lawyer Patrick Valentino appeared for Farrugia.