Building site collapse prompts evacuation at St Aubin

Monday 14 March 2016

Up to 40 St Aubin residents were woken up and evacuated at around 4 am on Saturday morning after a collapse at a building site on the High Street.

The side of the hill behind the old La Tour Hotel site collapsed in the early hours of the morning – one resident said the sound of a loud rumbling and crashing noise woke them up.

Police were at the scene quickly and evacuated the residents to the Parish Hall.

Some were told that they would not be able to get back into their homes until today at the earliest because of the danger of a further collapse. A structural engineer is being flown over from the UK to assess the site – Health and Safety engineers from the States were at the site over the weekend.

The site is being redeveloped for housing by Rok Construction.

One resident, who didn’t want to be named, told Bailiwick Express that they were woken up by loud and constant noise.

The resident said: “I woke up just after 3 am to unusual sounds, so I looked out of the window to see what was going on.

“I woke my housemate up to see what was going on and we walked down the road and met other residents – there was constant movement, but it was dark and we couldn’t tell what was going on.

“It’s difficult to explain, there was rumbling and gurgling noises, it was constant.

“The police were on it, they evacuated us within an hour but we were able to get back into the house and grab a few bits.”