Experts say a wall that collapsed and killed 9 within the Dominican Republic capital was poorly constructed

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic — A concrete wall alongside an avenue within the Dominican Republic‘s capital that collapsed over the weekend and killed nine people during heavy rains was poorly designed, experts said Monday.

The government of the Caribbean country has come under scrutiny, with experts saying they had warned more than 20 years ago about the wall’s failures and lack of effort to repair them.

“It has weaknesses in the design,” civil engineer Cristian Rojas informed The Associated Press. “No anchors were placed, and that is why the wall collapsed.”

Rojas, former president of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors, stated the pressure of the water in a flooded adjoining avenue, mixed with the kind of wall that was constructed, led to the collapse.

Dominican geologist Osiris de Léon recalled that the primary warnings concerning the wall had been made greater than twenty years in the past. He posted a narrative from December 1999 on X, previously often known as Twitter, through which El Siglo newspaper quoted the school recommending that the wall be rebuilt as a result of it was cracked and “it can fall and cause a tragic accident.”

The collapse occurred Saturday in Santo Domingo when a portion of the wall that runs alongside the closely transited 27 of February Avenue fell in a single piece, crushing automobiles and their occupants, authorities stated.

Among the victims was Puerto Rico prosecutor Michael Orozco, his spouse, María Nereida Martínez, and his in-laws, based on Javier Rivera, president of the island’s Association of Prosecutors. Martínez was pregnant.

“Comrade Orozco was living a wonderful personal moment with his family, and as a young, committed lawyer, a promising future awaited him,” Rivera stated.

Also killed was Dominican Police Gen. Eduardo Cabrera Castillo, authorities stated.

Andrés Matos, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Works, rejected accusations that the federal government didn’t correctly preserve the wall and close by infrastructure.

“These tunnels and overpasses are given permanent maintenance,” Matos informed the AP. He attributed the collapse to different causes however declined to supply particulars.

“The ministry is ordering a deep, structuralist investigation, which implies that we should not get ahead of the causes,” he stated.

The collapse occurred as a tropical disturbance moved by way of the western Caribbean, battering the Dominican Republic with heavy rains over the weekend. Authorities stated at the very least 24 folks died, together with these crushed by the wall.

The storm tore tin roofs off tons of of properties and reduce off entry to just about a dozen communities, authorities stated.

Officials in neighboring Haiti, which shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, stated 4 folks died and one other two are lacking. Dozens of individuals remained in shelters after the storm flooded tons of of properties and reduce off a number of communities, they stated.

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Associated Press reporter Dánica Coto in San Juan, Puerto Rico, contributed.