Cyprus theatre roof crashes down one day before children's s

repulsewarrior · Deputy Joined: 06 Jan 2006 Posts: 1643 Location: Canada

Probe team visits collapsed THOK roof
By Leo Leonidou

THE PROBE into the collapse of the roof of the Nicosia Municipal Theatre officially began this week, with the team carrying out their initial site inspections.

The aim is to find out what exactly happened on June 11, after most of the seating area was crushed, only three years after a €5.5 million renovation project.

Thankfully the theatre was closed at the time, with the venue booked to host hundreds of schoolchildren for an end-of-year performance 24 hours later.

On June 18, the Cabinet appointed a three-man investigative committee to look into the incident. Heading the committee is Giorgos Ioannides, a Professor in the School of Civil Engineering at the National Metsovio Polytechnic in Greece. Committee members include civil engineers Costas Meletiou and Panicos Papadopoulos.

Yesterday, the team climbed on a special crane to inspect the top of the building, with evidence taken away from the scene.

“Our work has begun and on Thursday afternoon we visited the site for the first time before undertaking an aerial inspection on Friday,” said Ioannides.

The trio have already met with Nicosia Mayor Eleni Mavrou, during which the exact work that will take place was discussed.

“The committee will have all the powers in accordance with the law to undertake the investigation of the causes that led to the collapse of the Nicosia Municipal Theatre roof and any possible negligence or responsibility,” Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou said at the time the committee was appointed.

He added that President Demetris Christofias had given clear instructions that the committee’s report be submitted to the Education Ministry as soon as possible.

“The President of the Republic has given clear instructions and orders that responsibility is apportioned where it is due and of course for those who are guilty to be punished… the intention is for the investigation to be concluded as soon as possible,” Stefanou said.

ETEK Technical Chamber President Christos Efthivoulou has said that the Chamber, “is interested in a thorough investigation so we can scientifically prove what led to the roof’s collapse.”

According to Ioannides, “the investigation is expected to run for the next six months due to the huge workload involved and we will make every attempt to stick to this timeframe.”

He added that special care will be taken while working on the site as it may not be structurally sound.”

The police have also interviewed theatre employees, technicians and members of the renovation team as part of the enquiry.

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