Six people injured as car park under construction collapses

A multi-storey car park being built for Sharjah Municipality partially collapsed yesterday, injuring six people – two of them seriously.

The accident happened at noon as concrete was being poured on the second floor of the nine-storey building in the Abu Shagara used car market area. It was the third accident involving buildings under construction in the past few months. An under-construction building in Deira collapsed last month and the collapse of a building in Ajman injured five. The accidents prompted an outcry about safety standards on building sites.

A witness who saw yesterday's accident told Emirates Businesses the steel structure and wet concrete partially caved in, causing the first floor of the building to collapse under the weight of the falling debris.

"This is a multi-storey parking building and scaffolding and steelwork for concreting was in place," he added.

"The accident happened at around noon and many workers having a rest under the building were able to escape as the collapsed steel did not reach the ground."

Sharjah Municipality officials confirmed the accident had taken place but the building contractor, the International Construction and Trading Company (ICTC) of Sharjah, could not be reached for comment.

Sharjah police sources said the six workers who were injured were taken to the Kuwait Hospital and two were in a serious condition. A rescue team from Sharjah Civil Defence searched for any workers trapped under the debris.

A resident said: "A major accident was avoided because some workers were having a rest under the construction site. The steel structure from the second floor just caved in, causing the first floor steel structure to collapse. Part of the scaffolding also collapsed.

"This building is going up in the crowded Abu Shagara area where parking is a big problem. Residents saw the building collapse and watched the rescue operation from their balconies. By 4pm the operation was over."

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