One deceased person and another injured was the result of a collapse that occurred this Wednesday at the former Antonio Maceo Vocational Pre-University Institute of Exact Sciences, in Santiago de Cuba.
The incident occurred around 2:30 p.m. yesterday (local time), while these two people, along with a third, tried to “remove steel bars from the structures in danger of collapsing,” as you refer the local newspaper Master Saw.
The publication reports that the wounded man was immediately transferred to the Doctor Juan Bruno Zayas General Teaching Hospital, and has no life-threatening injuries. In addition, he confirms that a 32-year-old man from Santiago died at the scene, whom he identified as Yordenis Nieves Rams.
In accordance with Master Sawafter the collapse, forces from the Fire Department, the Cuban Red Cross, the Integrated System of Medical Emergencies, as well as the police and the main authorities of the territory, attended the scene, while it was necessary to use backhoes and other heavy equipment, the technique canina and the felling of trees to access the area.
The newspaper assures that “attention has been provided to the relatives of the victim and the injured.”
For his part, Aris Arias Batalla, head of Operations and Relief of the Provincial Health Directorate in Santiago de Cuba, explained on Facebook that the event occurred as a result of existing vulnerabilities in the structures, which caused a total collapse of four building levels.
According to the specialist, the body of the deceased was found this Thursday morning, after arduous search work carried out since the previous afternoon, which was identified by legal medicine experts and relatives present at the site of the collapse.
In his post, Arias Batalla assured that in the old Pre-University Institute, popularly known as the Vocational Institute, a demolition brigade works and there are security and protection agents, but that there are still people, such as the victims of this event, who “do not they abide by and respect the presence of these agents” and enter the place putting their lives at risk.
Formerly a school for the training of pre-university students specialized in various branches of Exact Sciences, the Santiago Vocational School was recently closed due to the “high degree of deterioration of its facilities” and the “structural seismic vulnerability of its 11 blocks.” Before, in 2019, the school had been transferred from its dilapidated original headquarters to another employee already in teaching duties.
After the closure of the pre-university, another collapse had been reported that also affected two people who were removing steel bars from the old structures. However, on that occasion both were able to be rescued alive by firefighters, after being trapped under the rubble.
