Overview
- A retaining wall above a work site collapsed during construction, Friday morning leaving worker Ananías Bardales Mendo trapped under earth and debris for several hours.
- Firefighters, the GOES special operations unit, Serenazgo, police, Defensa Civil and INDECI worked on scene using concrete cutters, a lampa and manual digging to free the man.
- Rescuers pulled Bardales out alive and conscious around midday, gave him oxygen and IV fluids, and transported him to the Hospital de Ventanilla with injuries to a leg and his face.
- Municipal Defensa Civil officials attributed the failure to an artisanal retaining wall on uneven ground and said the settlement’s close wooden structures and sand made excavation difficult.
- The incident underscores how improvised slope supports and dense informal housing raise risks for construction workers and neighbours and may prompt calls for quicker inspections and reinforcement programs.