In what could have been a deadly incident, seven families were left homeless on Wednesday when a retaining wall collapsed and crushed several houses in the Guajimía Ravine in the Las Palmas de Herrera neighborhood in the capital. A concrete wall dividing the upper level of homes from those beneath it gave way. One resident, Juan María Hernández, told El Siglo, “we were inside the house around 7 pm and we heard some rocks falling and when we ran out we saw that the wall had collapsed and crushed seven houses.” The wall was built several years ago to prevent mudslides but has been cracked for some time. Civil Defense head Carlos Barranco was on the scene and said “we are here doing prevention work because the rains could continue; the Civil Defense engineers are evaluating whether the remaining part of the wall should be demolished or if the people should be evacuated.” He blamed the collapse on garbage accumulating at the upper level, plugging the drains and creating pressure on the wall.
