The man who died in a Cospicua building site collapse last Thursday has been identified as Sarjo Conteh, a 32-year-old construction worker. 

Conteh, a Gambian national, was doing excavation works with a colleague at the Cospicua site when a wall collapsed on Thursday afternoon. 

The incident claimed Conteh's life and left 35-year-old father of two Johann Ellul fighting for his life. 

Conteh lived with friends in a Marsa apartment and leaves behind his mother and three brothers in Gambia. 

A friend who spoke to Times of Malta said that Conteh was a cheerful and friendly character who kept a positive outlook on life, despite serving in the Gambian army from a young age and fleeing the country due to political unrest. 

"He left Gambia because he had problems with the previous government, he was always afraid that something would end up happening to him or his family," the friend said. 

"But that didn't affect how he treated people. He was kind and very friendly, he missed his family but made new friends wherever he was. 

The friend, Ebrima Drammeh, is now trying to contact Conteh's family and has urged anyone who knows them to get in touch.

Drammeh has since appeared on a Gambian online TV show to discuss Conteh's death, in an attempt to trace his family and clear up misconceptions about the case in his home country. 

Conteh's death has reignited the conversation on construction site safety and protections for migrant workers. 

Activist group Moviment Graffiti said that authorities had not taken anything away from previous incidents and it was workers who were paying the price. 

"This is exactly how workers in the construction sector in Malta are treated. Not only are they not given any dignity or safety on their workplace, but they're also forgotten by the authorities and by their own employers," the group said. 

"The excessive proximity between big business and politics leads to the absolute lack of regulation in the sector, and is a heavy price borne by these workers."

Ivana Portelli, daughter of Ħamrun collapse victim Miriam Pace, expressed sympathy to Conteh's family, but said the collapse came as no surprised, as few lessons had been learnt since her mother's death. 

"Yesterday it was my mum, today it was a worker in Cospicua. Who will it be tomorrow,” she asked.