Abu Dhabi: Faulty engineering is being blamed for the sudden collapse of an underground car park ceiling which damaged vehicles and forced hundreds of tenants from their homes.
Several vehicles were damaged when the ceiling in Khalifa A, in the capital caved in on Sunday evening.
Damage to cars is estimated by sources at Civil Defence to be around Dh150,000 — no injuries have been reported.
The collapse of the affected area (approximately 1,400 square metres) resulted in the evacuation of hundreds of tenants as a safety procedure as well as setting up a field hospital and carrying out a thorough research for any missing persons explained Lieutenant Colonel Mohammad Al Ansari, head of the UAE search and rescue team.
Sorouh, the developing company for the Al Rayyana residential area project, has arranged temporary accommodation in a hotel for those affected by the incident.
“This collapse is a result of an engineering flaw and the use of wrong construction materials to build the courtyard,” a source at a special committee for the investigation of projects in the city told Gulf News.
According to official sources, the exact reason for the incident is still unknown. Investigations are being made, Al Ansari said in a statement as the blueprints and soil used is still being studied.
The area is currently sealed off by the Abu Dhabi Police, while photography is also prohibited.
Sorouh announced that it has cut off all electricity, water and gas sources from the empty apartments for safety reasons and that it will co-operate with a third party to review the structure of the project.
