…without an earthquake!
Time to measure the millimeters in your steel reinforcement, folks, get up on the roof and chip away those finished ends of concrete and measure it yourself. Especially those with homes built in the last five years.
2mm can make the difference between life and death without an earthquake.
I think it a little ironic that everyone is considering themselves blessed to be alive. I think it is not a special blessing to be able to consider your home an uncollapsable structure. I am thankful the men who survived did, and it was a blessing from God, but I wonder what God has to say about contractors who use substandard material?
Where is the name of this contractor?
And lists of other homes he was responsible for building?
Time for a little transparency.
People’s lives depend on it, even before an earthquake. Note that this faulty construction affected the neighbors next door as well.
http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=24746
Sandouqa noted that despite losing his life savings, he was “blessed” to have survived, blaming the collapse on faulty construction and accusing the building’s owner of cutting corners.
“He used 14-millimetre steel bars, while he should have used 16-millimetre ones, especially since the building is built on a slope and strong floods are common after heavy rainfall.”
“I warned the owner that the building might collapse after I saw the horizontal cracks. This is the result of his greed,” he added.
Twenty-year-old Ahmad Sahouri, who worked as a plumber at the building, said his life was saved when he insisted on taking Wednesday off.
“I was supposed to come to complete my work at the building today [Wednesday]. But I called the owner Tuesday night and said I wanted to have the day off and he agreed,” he said, noting that although his employer changed his mind and requested him to come to work, he declined.
“Thank God I did not come. It seems that God wants me to live longer. If I came today, I would have been under this rubble along with my co-workers. I hope they will live. May God be with their families,” Sahouri told The Jordan Times.
**UPDATE: Five dead, thirteen still missing under the rubble, five (including four kids from next door) hospitalized. Some were not blessed, I would say.
***Update
Gravity is no respecter of wasta.
The interior minister stated that these types of incidents are rare in Jordan. It sounds like he is condoning the loss of innocent Jordanian lives every once in a while. It is really weird how these officials think.
It’s sad to see this happen! Luckily, the building was not occupied at the time. This is only the second time this has happened, but it’s 2 times too many. I hear that there’s a huge investigation going and most concerned parties have already been arrested including, owner, contractor, soil examiner, and supervising engineer
Abu Tulip, sa7hi.
Max, welcome to the blog! One would HOPE these kinds of accidents are rare, my goodness, this comment is supposed to comfort people?! A whole building collapses, ‘oh, but it is rare’ does not comfort me.
Qwaider, I am glad to to hear the investigation is going on. I hope the government keeps up the pressure, and reveals other indiscretions if any.