Containers housing migrants at the Ħal Far open centre collapsed early on Saturday morning due to the strong winds battering Malta.

A Sudanese migrant called Jed recalled that he heard the containers fall in the early hours of the morning, at around 4AM. 

“The containers were not stable and there was too much wind. I was in my room and I heard them fall. People were screaming and crying. We rushed outside to help,” Jed said.

Jed explains that security personnel arrived at the scene and were preventing the fellow residents from getting closer to help those inside.

“I was trying to get a picture but the police wouldn’t allow us,” Jed added.

A fellow resident of the centre, Mohammed Adam, told Times of Malta there had been around 16 people in the containers. He added that none of them had been hurt in the incident. 

Jed told Times of Malta that following the collapse, those who were freed from the collapsed containers were put up in the centre’s mosque for the night.
It is not clear where those that have been affected will be sleeping on Saturday evening.

Mohammed claimed they had been given another container to stay in, while Jed believes that they will be sleeping in the mosque again.

A spokesperson for the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security confirmed that those inside the four housing units were evacuated following the strong winds and that no one was hurt.

They did not confirm how many people were affected but did explain that it involved four housing units.

"Residents had already been evacuated by the staff on duty before the 4 units were effected by yesterday’s strong winds," the spokesperson said. "As a result no one was injured since precaution measures were seen to. All residents were given an alternate accommodation. Extra security measures were also taken and the cabins adjoined to the ones mentioned above were also evacuated."

News of the container's collapse comes during a day of disruption caused by gale force winds blowing across Malta and Gozo. The wind and waves have forced restaurants to cancel their bookings and public events to temporarily suspend their activities.

The wind has also blown over trees and caused travel disruption for road and sea travel.