“Smoking paper”. This is how the supports of the collapsed building described last Tuesday in Teruel the inspector of the Local Police, Ángel Loras, who participated in the rapid evacuation of the property. A fragile state with numerous chips from the main pillars that corroborate the photographs taken shortly before the incident by the neighbors and shared in the last hours on social networks.
In the images you can see how the columns had lost part of the cement that formed them, leaving exposed metal rods that were part of the internal structure, which also appears deteriorated. The morning of the incident, the neighbors themselves warned that they heard creaks and other noises in the building, which led to a prompt evacuation that prevented victims from being registered.
The deterioration of these supports, together with the effect of the persistent leaks from the sanitation network and also from the rainwater from recent storms, have been pointed out as a possible cause of the building’s collapse, which left 21 families homeless, although the investigation is still ongoing.
In this sense, the president of the Teruel Demarcation of the Official College of Architects of Aragon, María Castel, believes that the haste with which the five floors of the building collapsed “could indicate that the structural failure could be due to an active cause and not to a slow process”.
Although he acknowledges that “it is early” to know what the specific reasons have been, the preliminary analysis of some pillars, the water leaks through the retaining walls or the videos of the rapid collapse seem to indicate that the collapse “is due to a failure on the ground.
According to the College of Architects, the age of the building, 49 years, or the unevenness between the streets on which its facades fall “in principle do not pose a risk factor.” The collegiate body points out that, after the debris removal work, the remains of the structure and foundation can be analyzed and the conditions of the ground studied for analysis by multidisciplinary teams of architects and geologists, among others.
“As the removal of the remains of the building progresses, more information will be available so that the professionals involved in its study can draw conclusions,” said the architects, who recommend, however, carrying out tastings on the street to determine if there could be a leak. in the municipal networks that could have contributed to the incident.
For her part, the mayoress of Teruel, the popular Emma Buj, assured yesterday Wednesday that the City Council had received notices from the residents of the collapsed building due to possible water leaks, but not due to structural damage, as some affected owners have stated.
Buj did not want to comment on the possible causes of the collapse “because this will be a complex job”, but he explained that he has given instructions so that they are carried out with specialized personnel, samples are taken from the building and the pertinent expert reports are carried out.
In addition, he announced a direct and immediate aid of 1,000 euros to the affected families so that they can make purchases of “basic products” while they work to find them permanent relocation.
In anticipation of an arduous process, the affected residents have decided to join forces with the creation of a platform for those affected in which all the buildings on the street have been associated -another six properties were evicted to study their condition- and not only the one that collapsed.
Leonor Franco, one of its spokespersons, pointed out that they hope to have the services of a lawyer and an independent expert to determine the causes of the collapse.
In this sense, he regretted that “other buildings” on the street were also affected “not only when it rained” and, therefore, they have decided to include all the residents of the road in the organization. “There were a lot of leaks. The water came out of unusual points like the wall, ”he said. In addition, his efforts are focused on “seeking a relocation” for those neighbors who have been left homeless.
The situation of those affected has mobilized their Teruel neighbors. To date, more than 400 people have signed up as volunteers to lend a hand in whatever is needed. For its part, the Merchants Association has created vouchers of 300 euros so that the victims can buy what they need, while an optician will give away glasses to those who have lost them in the collapse.
