Abu Dhabi: A committee has been set up by the Western Region Municipality to look into the collapse of an under-renovation mosque, which claimed an Asian man’s life.
Seventeen other men sustained injuries during the incident, which took place on Saturday evening. The victims were refurbishing the mosque and the structure’s roof was being cast with concrete.
The committee will look into the possible technical and engineering errors which may have led to the roof collapse. The team will also examine all external factors surrounding the structure which may have contributed to the incident, revealed acting director-general of the Western Region Municipality, Musbah Mubarak Al Murar, during a tour of the scene of the incident on Sunday morning.
The team of experts will study the procedures and steps taken during the construction process while the municipality supervises the investigation, according to the official.
As soon as all documents are studied and all parties questioned, the committee will issue a report which the municipality will make public, the official announced.
The victims all underwent first aid treatment and were transported, along with the deceased, to Madinat Zayed Hospital in the Western Region.
All but six of those injured were released from hospital, according to Ganem Saeed Al Mazroui, acting director of Madinat Zayed Hospital.
Al Mazroui said that the remaining victims suffered fractures, concussion and cuts but their condition was not critical.
“The collapse happened in the last stages of our work, just as we were about to finish the process. The deceased worker was standing on top of the roof to even it out after the concrete was poured,” said Abul Kalam Hussain, one of the workers injured in the incident.
Colonel Ajeel Ali Abdullah, Director of the Western Region’s Police, revealed that as soon as the police received reports about the accident, teams from the ambulance, civil defence and emergency and public safety units headed to the area to evacuate those present.
The speed at which the authorities responded to the emergency ensured no additional fatalities were recorded, the official said.
