One woman injured in false ceiling collapse at McDonald`s
Families consider taking legal action
One woman was injured when part of a false ceiling of the McDonald`s restaurant in St Julian`s partially collapsed on Thursday afternoon. Three other women and three children were taken to hospital suffering from shock.
According to the police, the incident, which happened at about 1 p.m., seemed to have been caused as a result of work taking place at a building adjacent to the McDonald`s outlet.
For some reason, during unloading, liquid cement found its way through the ceiling and wall connecting the restaurant to the construction site, a spokesman for McDonald`s said in a short statement.
The cement ended on the false ceiling, causing part of it to cave in under the added weight, and falling onto some of the customers, police said.
Three families are now considering taking legal action against McDonald`s.
Doreen Polidano, 31, of San Gwann, was the worse off after the false ceiling, complete with a horizontal wall light, fell directly on her, leaving her with a head injury.
"All I heard was a rumble and the next second I was partly unconscious. I thought I was dying," she said.
"I walked out of the restaurant like a concrete statue."
Ms Polidano is under observation at home and has been told by doctors that she requires physical therapy.
Her friend, 18-year-old Tiziana Zammit, was more fortunate, and only suffered cuts apart from the shock she received.
Ingrid Magri Overend, a 30-year-old woman from Sliema involved in the incident was clearly perturbed.
"The children were screaming. My son spent all night crying. It`s very traumatic," she said.
Denise Spiteri, one of the three women taken to hospital suffering from shock, is five months pregnant.
Her husband, Oliver, said all the necessary precautions should be taken to avoid such incidents, especially places frequented by children.
The restaurant`s duty manager called an ambulance, while McDonald`s chief executive John Correia was on the scene in no time.
Police arrived shortly afterwards and questioned the developer responsible for the works.
The area was inspected by officials from the health and safety unit together with insurance representatives.
The McDonald`s management also contacted those injured personally later in the day.
Three of those involved in the incident said they would be consulting their lawyers.