Rescuers fearing the worst

Two women, a Maltese and a Russian, are missing, feared buried under tons of concrete and rubble after part of a block of flats in St Paul's Bay collapsed yesterday afternoon.

Civil Protection Department sources said a third woman, possibly another Russian, may have been in the building when it collapsed, but this could not be confirmed last night.

The police and rescuers are fearing the worst.

The missing persons are Mary Zarb, aged 60, a former Nationalist Party councillor for St Paul's Bay, who used to give private lessons, and a young Russian woman, Nadya Vavilova, 24, who was attending private lessons in Maltese.

At first it was feared that Ms Zarb, a widow, was accompanied by her two-and-a-half-year-old granddaughter but it was later established that the girl was with her mother.

Residents said the building, in Ramon Perellos Street, just off the main road, crumbled at about 3.15 p.m.

"There was a thunderous rumbling noise and a big thud and everywhere was covered in clouds of white dust," eyewitness Adrian Borg, an employee of Strand Diving Services, said.

The block consisted of four flats, two on each side of a common entrance and two underlying garages. Two of the flats and a garage collapsed.

The building is situated next to a plot were work was in progress to lay the foundations of a new building. Residents said that trenching works had been going on for the last couple of weeks.

The residents said that yesterday morning a digger was excavating a trench next to the outer wall of the flats in preparation for the laying of the foundations.

Mr Borg said that after the building collapsed, he and a friend, Matthew Spagnol, 18, waited for the rumbling to stop and then ran to the entrance to see if they could be of assistance to anyone. But they had to stop at the door because the stairs had caved in.

At this point he noticed a woman in the balcony of the flat on the other side of the block. The woman, who cried out for help and who was in shock, is Catherine Camilleri, 54, the wife of singer Bayzo. She was later lowered down to the street from the balcony by firemen of the Civil Protection Department.

Mr Spagnol said he had seen a Russian girl, whom he knew had attended private lessons at Ms Zarb's flat, entering the block a few moments before disaster struck. The flat occupied by Ms Zarb was the one on the first floor.

According to neighbours the upper flat was empty as it is used mostly as a summer residence.

Later on, as members of the Civil Protection Department were engaged in the rescue operation, a Russian woman who arrived on the scene told the police that her friend, Ms Vavilova, was probably inside the building.

The woman, Ina Atrepyeva-Abrekova, said Ms Vavilova, who lives in St Paul's Bay, had told her she was going to be attending a lesson at Ms Zarb's flat between 3 and 4.30 p.m. and then had to meet her at 5 p.m. to go to a pet shop.

Ms Atrepyeva-Abrekova added that when her friend did not turn up after 5 p.m. she went to the tutor's flat to see what had happened.

She said Ms Vavilova had been in Malta for three years and had a work permit.

Heavy civil protection and army machinery were brought to the site of the disaster but the opeartion was hampered by the dangerous state of the building which remained standing.

Another handicap was that heavy plant could not be employed because of the possible presence of persons under the rubble. For most of the time CPD personnel removed boulders and rubble with their bare hands and with spades.

At one point two dogs belonging to the CPD were taken to the site to help in the search.

A woman who is believed to be Ms Zarb's daughter was on the site explaining to rescuers the layout of the flat in an effort to facilitate the rescue operation which continued throughout the night.

Magistrate Joseph Cassar, who is holding an inquiry, was on site for most of the time during the rescue operation.

He was assisted by architect Richard Aquilina. Clinical forensic physician Mario Scerri was also there.

Also present were Peter Cordina, head of the CPD, Communications Minister Censu Galea and Labour MP Michael Farrugia.

St John's Rescue Corps and members of the Armed Forces of Malta were standing by.

St Luke's Hospital was put on alert after news of the accident and a number of ambulances were deployed to the site in the initial stage of the rescue operation.