Six workers injured after hotel building collapses in Medan

Six workers injured after hotel building collapses in Medan

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan

A new section of Hotel Sahiba in Medan, which was being
constructed, suddenly collapsed on Thursday, leaving six
construction workers injured.

The new section was a three-story building, an extension of
the old hotel building. The old hotel building itself was
unaffected by the incident.

Several witnesses said that the building suddenly collapsed
when eight construction workers were working inside the building.

Edi, one of the construction workers, recalled that the
building collapsed at 10 a.m, when he and seven other workers
were working on the ground floor.

"We did not know what was going on, suddenly the building
collapsed. Six of us were not able to escape immediately, so
parts of the building fell on us," said Edi, who suffered light
injuries in the incident.

Four workers were treated at Bhakti Hospital in the city --
namely Edi, Felix, Agus, and Elvian. The two others, Gimin and
Misno, suffered fractured skulls and were admitted to Pirngadi
Hospital.

A preliminary investigation found that the incident stemmed
from poor construction on the second floor of the building, which
caused the building to collapse, according to the Medan Teladan
Police subprecinct chief Adj. Comr. Irwan Anwar.

Irwan said that police investigators were questioning three
witnesses in the case, including the owner of the hotel, B.
Sinurat.

In a similar incident, five construction workers were killed
at the end of May in the Sunter area, North Jakarta, when part of
a building they were constructing collapsed.