A wall held together by concrete support beams that was right by Miriam Pace’s home was dismantled by a neighbouring construction site in the lead-up to the fatal collapse, Lovin Malta can reveal.

Images on social media show how a rubble wall which held a series of support beams being taken apart by a construction worker on site.  The concrete brick is believed to help form part of retaining wall, which are rigid structures used for supporting soil beneath buildings.

However, sources said it might just be too early to tell, with a magisterial inquiry and police investigation underway.

The developers had promised to build a new party wall from basement level up to penthouse level “to avoid damages to the neighbouring property”. However, it seems that this never actually took place.

Meanwhile, it has now been revealed that the developers had never informed the Planning Authority that it planned to commence some works, despite being acquired to by law. The works allegedly began in February.

Architects who spoke to Lovin Malta raised concerns over the state of the wall, insisting that it was clear that the support beams were added because the wall was deteriorating. The state of the wall and the presence of support beams is nowhere to be found in the method statement.

Given its proximity to nearby residences, it is unclear why it was ignored.

However, others insisted it was far too early to tell what could have caused the drop, insisting that there were are a variety of factors that could have contributed to the collapse.

There are indications that the method statement could have been rushed. It is riddled with spelling mistakes, at one point even saying that they “recon” that the rock level beneath the building is well before the soil level, despite them admitting that it was “unknown”.

Miriam Pace was killed when her house in Ħamrun collapsed as a result of works at the ongoing construction site.

The architect, Roderick Camilleri, who is also a shareholder in the development and the author of the risk-assessing method statement, had declared that a collapse of nearby buildings was “minimal”.

Six people have been arrested, including Camilleri, the site technical officer Anthony Mangion, excavation and demolition contractor Ludwig Dimech.

The Ħamrun construction site is owned by a development consortium, MCZMC Developers Limited. The company is made up of Malcolm Mallia, Matthias Mallia, Elton Joseph Caruana, Amanda Muscat, Christopher Zarb, Simon Zarb, and the construction site’s architect Roderick Camilleri.

Mallia is also a council member of the MDA. He has since been suspended from his role.