Updated 1.10pm

Two construction workers were grievously injured when a roof they were standing on caved in and they fell three storeys into a Floriana house.

The accident was reported at 8.30am on Triq Sir Luigi Preziosi.

Times of Malta is informed the two men, Albanian nationals, were working on a neighbouring property, which is under construction when they jumped on to the adjoining property's roof. 

On impact, the roof caved in and so did the ceilings of the two floors beneath them, with the workers ending up on the ground floor on top of the rubble.

The police said the men - aged 26 and 32 - were given first aid by a medical team and officers from the Civil Protection Department.

The owners of the older house were not on site. It later emerged that the couple, who are in their 90s, had moved out months ago, fearing for their lives because of ongoing works next door.  

They told their daughter they did not want to "end up like Miriam Pace", who died under the rubble of her home in 2020 when construction work next door caused her house to collapse.

Officials from the Building and Construction Authority and Occupational Health and Safety Authority officials were on site soon after the fall was reported to the police. 

The condition of the two men, who were rushed to Mater Dei Hospital, remains unknown.

Rubble at the house next door. Photo: Jonathan Borg

What is the construction project?

The project developer, Neville Agius, is building apartments at the site.

Architect Elena Borg Costanzi is leading the project, and works were cleared to begin by the BCA in September 2022. 

A request filed with the BCA that month to exempt the project from the need to appoint a site technical officer during building works.  

It is not clear whether the BCA approved that request, filed on the basis that "an architect from the office will be supervising works on a regular basis." 

The BCA issued a stop works order on Friday, shortly after the collapse was reported.

The contractor responsible for works is understood to be Yousef Grima. 

The project has been years in the making: it first obtained planning permission in 2012, with subsequent permits in 2014 and 2021 amending those plans.

Second incident in a week

Friday's collapse took place less than a week after a fellow Albanian worker was killed when a roof collapsed during works at a Sliema property.

Bari Balla, a father of six died when the roof of a 1920s house in St Ignatius Street, collapsed.

Data from the National Statistics Office shows that more than half of workplace accidents that happened over the past two years have been related to the construction industry.