An excavator at the Hamrun construction site adjacent to the home which collapsed last March appeared to have been moved after the building came down, killing a woman, a court was told on Wednesday. This was indicated by the amount of dust on the machinery as well as fresh track marks.

Miriam Pace, 54, a  wife and mother-of-two, was killed when her home was reduced to a pile of rubble on March 2.

Roderick Camilleri, 36, from Rabat, the project’s architect; Anthony Mangion, a 72-year-old architect from Gżira who served as the construction project’s site technical officer; 36-year-old excavation contractor Ludwig Dimech from Żebbuġ; and 42-year-old construction worker Nicholas Spiteri, from Mqabba; stand accused of involuntary homicide.

When testifying on Wednesday at the ongoing compilation of evidence, Inspector Matthew Galea gave an overview of his role in the investigations, referring to statements released by the accused.

Inspector Galea explained that CCTV footage showed movement near the building at the time of the collapse.

Spiteri, one of the two workers on site at the time of the fatal incident, had been confronted about the alleged movement of machinery after the collapse.

“They might have moved in the dust cloud [Setghu iċċaqilqu fid-daħna,]” the man had allegedly told investigators.

The other worker on site, Albanian Erbios Hysa, who is not facing charges, had allegedly been told not to tell police that Spiteri had been using the hydraulic excavator.

But subsequently, Dimech had told him to tell the truth, the inspector said. 

When facing cross-examination by Arthur Azzopardi and Alfred Abela, the architects’ lawyers, Inspector Galea confirmed that Roderick Camilleri had pointed out, on police photos, that the excavators had more dust than the other machinery.

This seemed to imply that the heavy machinery had been close to the collapsed building rather than at the other side of the site, contradicting the version originally given by the workers on site.

Photos showing fresh tracks also seemed to point in this direction, investigations subsequently showed.

Camilleri had constantly insisted that the only order he had issued was for extraction of rock from the other side, away from the building that collapsed and this solely for geological profiling purposes, Inspector Galea told the court, presided over by Magistrate Joseph Mifsud.

The case continues in September.

Inspectors Robert Vella and Matthew Galea are prosecuting.

Lawyers Arthur Azzopardi and Alfred Abela are counsel to the architects.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Marion Camilleri are assisting Spiteri.

Lawyers Michael Sciriha, Roberto Montalto, Lucio Sciriha and Franco Galea are counsel to Dimech.

Lawyers Joe Giglio and David Bonello are parte civile to the Pace family. Lawyer Stefano Filletti is appearing on behalf of other n

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