Conflicting claims in Sharjah dome collapse case

Investigations into the building dome collapse last Sunday which claimed five lives and injured seven workers are throwing up conflicting reports, Gulf News learnt yesterday.

Reportedly, the contractor is claiming a lift hit one of the pillars carrying the dome's scaffolding, precipitating the collapse.

The consultant says the scaffolding itself was loose and that he had urged it be firmed up, while acknowledging he himself was absent on the day of the accident.

And the workers say the dome fell for no apparent reason, after it was 80 per cent complete. No official comment was forthcoming on the ongoing probe.

Informed sources, however, said a special committee has been formed by the prosecution to investigate the cause of the accident, subsequent to Sharjah Police having submitted its preliminary findings to the public prosecutor.

The initial police report blames negligence on the part of the contractor and his workers. Elaborating, the sources explained the contractor is claiming the accident happened when the lift used for pouring the cement hit one of the pillars upon which the dome's scaffolding rested, triggering the collapse.

However, the consultant is saying that the accident could have happened as the scaffolding was already loose, making the support insufficient to bear the weight of the cement.

He has also defended himself by saying that on a site visit before cement was poured into the dome, he had noticed the loose scaffolding and had asked for it be tightened. He has, however, admitted he was not at the site on the day of the accident.

Survivors of the accident, on being interrogated, gave differing testimonies, with some saying the dome collapsed for no apparent reason, and others too dazed to even recollect coherently what had happened.

The accident happened at 12.35pm when 80 per cent of the dome cement work had been completed. Approximately 32 cubic metres of the total 40 cubic metres of cement required had already been poured into the dome structure.

As soon as the dome collapsed, police were rushed to the scene, along with rescue teams from Dubai Police and Sharjah Civil Defence. The rescuers were racing against time to get the workers out as the cement was fast drying around them.

Seven survivors were rescued from the debris and rushed to Al Kuwaiti and Al Qasimi hospitals, while four bodies were removed, two of them in the early hours of Monday. The fifth casualty was reported when one of the victims in Al Kuwaiti Hospital succumbed to his injuries during surgery.

In a strange twist to the tale, search operations continued for a 13th worker believed to have been at the site when the accident occurred.

Then officials eventually tumbled to the fact that he had managed to get away at the time of the accident, fearing arrest since he was already absconding from his sponsor. He was arrested on Monday evening. The probe by the prosecution is still going on, the sources added.