One person was injured during a collapse that occurred this Wednesday in the old building of the Antonio Maceo Grajales Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences (IPVCE), in Santiago de Cuba.
The rescue team is also trying to locate another individual, allegedly trapped between several concrete slabs after the collapse of the structure. This was reported on Facebook by Aris Arias Batalla, provincial head of Operations and Relief of the Red Cross branch in Santiago de Cuba.
“A whole multidisciplinary team worked tirelessly to extract the body found under the concrete slabs,” wrote Arias Batalla. He added that the wounded man was transferred to the Juan Bruno Zayas Surgical Clinical Hospital and until last night he was “out of danger.”
Since the fact was known, the people of Santiago have demanded from the authorities the immediate demolition of the facilities of the old IPVCE
The Cuban Red Cross, the Civil Defense, workers from the Mariel project and the Ministry of Construction are operating at the scene of the incident. In addition, they support the work of cement factory workers, paramedics from the Integrated Emergency Medical System, brigade members and experts in rescue techniques.
During the early hours of this Thursday, work was being done to clean up the debris, for which it was necessary to chip the concrete slabs with electric hammers, according to the explanations of lifeguard Arias Batalla. At 8:00 in the morning, the rescuers began the search in a second sector after not finding any bodies in the first.
Since the fact was known, the people of Santiago have demanded from the authorities the immediate demolition of the facilities of the old IPVCE, which has been used for the extraction of steel. These actions have already caused accidents, such as the one that occurred on July 6 when another landslide left two people in the rubble.
The injured were illegally extracting steel from the structure, in one of the ships on the fourth level, which collapsed on Wednesday.
“Until when are people going to be so irresponsible and seek death trying to remove the steel that is in the floors and in the columns,” Carlos Caballero Reyes reflected on Facebook, after the new collapse.
“Since the previous injuries, not even two months ago, those ruins must have disappeared. People are not aware,” commented Idamis Geilis in the publication of Arias Batalla.
In 2006, a study on seismic vulnerability was carried out and it was determined that this place represented an imminent risk, due to the occurrence of tremors.
The pre-university scholarships, especially the vocational centers, prepare students who will pursue university studies in science and technology specialties, and were one of the “jewels in the crown” of the Cuban educational system during the years of the Soviet subsidy.
In 2006, a study on seismic vulnerability was carried out and it was determined that this place represented an imminent risk, due to the occurrence of tremors in Santiago de Cuba.
However, over the years, the refusal of families to send their internal children to these centers, material deterioration and food shortages caused the initiative to capsize. In 2009, Raul Castro he closed the scholarships and schools in the countrysidewhich accelerated the ruin of the vocational pre-university.
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