A section of a building’s side wall on Rua de Campo de Ourique in Lisbon collapsed early Saturday afternoon, damaging a parked car. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.
The incident was reported at 1:22 PM, confirmed by the Lisbon Fire Brigade.
Later, in remarks to SIC Notícias, the Mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moedas, revealed that he was passing through the area and witnessed the incident firsthand.
“Fortunately, the person who was in the car got out immediately, and we managed to calm them down. However, there were people behind the area with only one exit, which was blocked by the debris. My concern was whether anyone lived in that apartment. Fortunately, the son of the former resident arrived, but they no longer live there,” he stated.
He added, “We were very lucky here, but there’s a responsibility to determine. I immediately called the firefighters. Our police are here, and we’ll have to ascertain with our urban planning services exactly what happened because it’s disgraceful that a developer of this quality, constructing a new building, let this happen.”
The alert was raised at 1:22 PM.
Published on 29/03/2025
“We have a project here, and responsibilities will be defined”
“We have a project here, and the contractor will be held accountable. It seems very strange that a contractor undertaking a building of this nature didn’t pay attention to the wall of an older building,” said Carlos Moedas to journalists on-site.
Speaking to journalists at the scene, the head of operations for the Lisbon Fire Brigade, José Caetano, acknowledged that the collapse of the building’s side wall might have been triggered by works occurring on the adjacent land.
Margarida Castro Martins, the Director of the Lisbon Municipal Civil Protection Service, stated that “the entire collapsed wall will have to be assessed, whether for reconstruction or demolition.”
“The project manager ensured the hiring of a private security company to guarantee the safety of the neighbor’s house, which was kindly offered as an access route. It was an excellent response from the project manager; they were swift, and everything went well,” she added.
The President of the Lisbon City Council stated today that the responsibilities for the collapse of a building’s side wall in Campo de Ourique need to be established, highlighting the potential impact of works on adjacent land.
Published on 29/03/2025
Residents affected by collapse will not be relocated
Besides the building’s residents — a couple who weren’t home at the time of the incident — there are another 15 units indirectly affected, housing 35 people, located in a villa behind number 85, which is the access point to the public street.
According to Margarida Castro Martins, after the cleanup operations concluded late in the afternoon, the access was interdicted, but people could enter the villa through another building.
On Monday, technical services from the Lisbon City Council will visit the site “to evaluate the next steps.”
The 35 residents in the villa behind the Lisbon building where a side wall collapsed today will not be relocated, according to a Civil Protection source, which noted that electricity was restored, and the street will soon be reopened.
Published on 29/03/2025
