Construction Faulted in Italy Collapse

Cheap materials and slipshod construction caused Italy’s deadliest building collapse in decades, according to a preliminary investigative report.

The Nov. 11 disaster killed 67 people, including the builder.

Authorities had looked at other theories immediately after the collapse in the southern Italian city of Foggia, including the possibility of a sudden ground cave-in beneath the six-story apartment building or a renovation project in the underground garage that might have weakened the structure.

But the new report, released Friday, says the fault stemmed from the way the building was constructed 30 years earlier.

Workers appear to have used sand-laden, watery concrete prone to crumbling and support pillars and steel rods inadequate in strength and placement, according to preliminary findings from two attorneys, Gabriella Tavano and Giovanni Falcione, appointed to oversee the official investigation.

Some of the paperwork that should have been filed at the time of construction is either missing or gives incorrect information, investigators said.

The collapse of a column in a stairwell may have been what brought the building crashing down, investigators said.

Many of the victims of the early morning collapse died in their beds or as they ran for the stairs to try to escape.

The death toll surpassed that of a 1959 apartment block collapse, when 58 people died.