Fourteen people, including three children, were left homeless following the collapse of a vacant building, whose debris hit an inhabited building, on Saturday night, December 6, in downtown Coimbra, Civil Protection sources told the Lusa agency this Sunday, the 7th.
“The rear part of a building, presumably uninhabited, collapsed, with the debris breaking windows and entering the inhabited building”, stated the commander of the Firefighters Sapadores de Coimbra.
According to Paulo Palrilha, for security reasons there was a need to relocate 14 people, “until the municipal services inspect the security conditions of the inhabited building”.
The commander of the Firefighters Sapadores de Coimbra clarified that no injuries were reported.
The municipal Civil Protection Office said that it was contacted by the Firefighters Sapadores de Coimbra “to assess a multi-family house located at Rua das Padeiras no. 6, affected due to the collapse” of a vacant building, at Rua da Fornalhinha no. 9, in Baixa da Coimbra.
Specifying that “the building that collapsed was the one next door, which caused damage to the building [habitado] that he was fine”, the office stated that, “after due assessment, it was found that the building is not safe, so it was necessary to provide accommodation for 14 people, including three children, seven men and four women”, aged between 7 and 45 years.
According to the office, “accommodation agreed for emergency situations in the municipality was used, having been provided accommodation in six rooms in two hotels in the city”.
The municipal Civil Protection Office highlighted that, “despite the collapse and damage to the building”, there was no “increased risk for the streets adjacent to the accident, which is why they were not closed”.
However, “given that the building was moved inwards, there will be a new assessment” by the Municipal Civil Protection Services accompanied by the Sapadores de Coimbra Fire Company so that, “with better visibility, the appropriate reassessment can be carried out”.
Also according to this source, the “owner of the building [habitado]present on site, provided all information and availability, and the municipality’s Social Action Division is also monitoring the situation.”
Today, “the services are carrying out a reassessment of the condition of the buildings”, he added.
Source from the Sub-regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command of the Coimbra Region stated that the alert for the collapse reached the authorities at 22:08, and, in addition to the firefighters and the municipal Civil Protection, the Public Security Police arrived at the scene.