The incident on the 13th of September 2023.
The neighbours of 93 Castle street reported to have been woken up in the early morning/nighttime of 13th of September 2023 by a loud blasting noise, followed by another loud noise (of the wall collapsing outwards) which was coupled by what the residents reported as a minor earthquake. This minor localized earthquake was caused by the kinetic force of the wall parallel to and facing castle st collapsing outwards all at once onto the passageway and neighbours backyards. The residents of 93 Castle street described a blasting thunder noise followed by an earthquake type of ground movement.
The collapse was reported first to the fire rescue service, then to the council by the residents of Castle Street, who were affected by the damage to their property. Neither the fire rescue service nor the council ever conducted forensics or investigations on the cause of the collapse. As we will see the report paid for by the insurance company did not state any cause for the collapse.
The collapse not only caused damage to 93 Castle street fence but also to the other adjacent proprieties backyards. Also, 91 and 89 and 87 Castle street suffered varying degree of damage to their back garden due to the side wall outward collapse and the roof tiles flying onto their garden causing damage. In particular, damage was caused to their sheds and their fences, walls and barriers in their backyards.
Dynamics of the collapse of 13th September 2023
1 the side wall supporting the roof was pushed outwards (by a centrally located blasting force). Additionally, as we will see, some of the roof tiles were blasted outwards onto the neighbours’ back gardens outwith the building footprint typical of a blasting force (explosion).
2 the roof suddenly lacked the support of the side double brick reinforced Side wall, causing the roof collapse.
Therefore, the collapse was sudden and occurred in a fast cascading fashion( within few seconds), typical of explosions.
Furthermore, as we will see the collapse of the first roof caused the whole structure to lack balance and caused the second roof slow collapse st the end of October 2023 and beginning of November 2023.
The cause of the collapse is a kinetic blast (or Explosion) as amply demonstrated
The collapse was reported at night when the neighbours were woken up by an explosion/earthquake type of event. The residents of 93 castle street reported a thundering explosion type of sound and a sort of earthquake. As we will see, only a sudden blasting force (explosion) can take down such a building all at once and in such a catastrophic fashion.
1. As we will see, the side supporting wall was over-engineered and designed to withstand both static and a high degree of dynamic forces imposed on the side wall by the roof. The collapse can only be explained by the internal explosion that caused it. The twin wall opposite wall (facing and parallel to Harold St) is still standing, and it is not expected to collapse, this is despite the higher than normal forces imposed on this wall on the other side of the building,
2 the collapse was sudden, as typical of explosions. As we will see, natural collapses due to design faults or key structural failure due to wear and tear are very slow in nature.
3 It is very unlikely (almost impossible ) for the roof to be collapsing suddenly due to roof structural failure or any other cause other than explosion.
4. Both the side wall and some roof tiles fell outwards, outwith the building footprint, as typical of an internal explosion being the cause of the collapse.
5 Witnesses sworn testimony of the residents of Castle street whose backyards face the collapsed building.
The explosion caused the side wall to collapse outward, and the lack of wall support caused the roof to collapse. However, the roof did not collapse on its own footprint entirely, as it occurs in natural building collapses. Some tiles flew outwards onto the neighbours’ garden outwith the building own footprint as caused by explosions.
1) Collapse due to structural defect is progressive and gradual in nature. Structural defects never cause a sudden catastrophic collapse, and they provide plenty of warning. No collapse are sudden and catastrophic, like in this incident. See collapse due to fire, most of the time the buildings are left with all structural walls intact. If a timber frame roof collapses, this occurs in a slow and gradual progression, it does not happen all at once. In collapses due to structural defects or alike, the tiles all fall within the building footprint. Conversely, building damage due to explosive force is sudden, and it is followed by a thundering noise (blast) plus most of the time an earthquake kind of earth movement. Also, roof tiles and walls tend to be pushed outwards outwith the footprint of the building.
