Did groundwater or construction irregularities cause the collapse?

The spokesperson for Hrvatska elektroprivreda (HEP), Radomir Milišić, confirmed to Hina this evening that there are suspicions that groundwater, which filled the construction pit, is the cause of today’s collapse of a single-story building and several dozen meters of road on Kupska Street, next to the HEP construction site, where the work is being carried out by “Tehnika”.

"There are suspicions that groundwater is involved, but we do not know anything officially yet. We are waiting for the final expertise," said Milišić. He added that all services have been engaged to determine the cause of the collapse of the single-story building and the road on Kupska Street in the Zagreb neighborhood of Martinovka, where no residents were injured. Twenty-two families have been evacuated from 20 endangered houses on Kupska and neighboring Unska Street in the Martinovka neighborhood. In addition to the collapse of the structures, there is also a danger of the cranes of two construction cranes collapsing, Milišić said.

The HEP spokesperson announced that HEP will hold a press conference tomorrow morning, where more concrete information regarding the possible cause of the collapse and the method of remediation will be provided. He stated that he does not know whether residents from Kupska Street had recently warned of danger to their houses, nor whether any suspicions had been reported. The HEP spokesperson also mentioned that HEP, "Tehnika," which is the contractor at the construction site, and the City of Zagreb have taken care of the evacuated residents. The site of the collapse was also visited in the afternoon by the Mayor of Zagreb, Milan Bandić. The construction inspection closed the HEP construction site in the afternoon, which informed Hrvatske vode after assessing the situation regarding this case. The police are monitoring the surrounding area and have cordoned off four surrounding streets around the site of the collapse.  (H)