The developers, contractor and architect involved in the Corradino building collapse that killed Jean Paul Sofia in December 2022 were “totally oblivious” of the number of workers on site when the tragedy struck, a court heard on Wednesday.

"No one could tell us the exact number” Assistant Commissioner Kenneth Haber testified as he recounted the scene he witnessed shortly after the building came crashing down during construction works.

The police were initially told that “some six workers” were involved, the officer recalled during the compilation of evidence against developers Matthew Schembri and Kurt Buhagiar, project architect Adriana Zammit and contractors Milomar and Dijana Jovicevic. All five are pleading not guilty to the involuntary homicide of 20-year old Jean Paul Sofia who was buried alive under the rubble.  

Haber said the site was a hive of activity when he got there, with civil protection officers and paramedics engaged in the rescue operation.

Some men were pulled out from the rubble “all covered in concrete,” and the primary task was to determine the number of persons who had been on the site and to account for everyone.

But that proved to be difficult.

Police and rescue workers spoke to the developers, the architect and the contractor but no one could give the exact number.   

Questioned further by parte civile lawyer Joe Giglio whether the accused were in a position to give a head count of those on site at the time of the incident, Haber replied in the negative.

“No one was aware of what was going on or the number of persons on site. They were totally oblivious. And I must say that they were also somewhat panicked, to be fair. But we could not get to a number. They could not supply that information.”

A wallet inside a parked van

At one point somebody pointed to a parked van close to the accident site.

When police opened that vehicle they found a wallet with the ID card of Jean Paul Sofia inside.  

Haber said the police started a triangulation process to locate Sofia’s mobile phone.

One of the workers on site, not one of the accused, told the police that Sofia was not one of the workers applying concrete that day, but could have entered the site prior to the collapse. 

The case, presided over by Magistrate Rachel Montebello, continues.

Inspectors Paul Camilleri and Antonello Magri are prosecuting.

Lawyer Stephen Tonna Lowell is counsel to Zammit.

Lawyers Franco Debono, Arthur Azzopardi and Jacob Magri are counsel to the developers.

Lawyer Timothy Bartolo is counsel to the contractors.

Lawyers Joe Giglio, David Bonello and Michaela Giglio are appearing parte civile.