Just a week after repairs were finished, residents of a Mexico City housing development that was damaged in the September 2017 earthquake have already reported major safety issues.
Several people were killed when one of the buildings in the complex collapsed in the 7.1-magnitude quake that struck central Mexico on September 19, 2017.
The families moved back into the buildings, located in Tlalpan, on February 8 and immediately found potentially life-threatening problems with the work contracted by the Mexico City government.
The handrail of a fourth-story balcony came loose and fell to the ground, a victims’ group posted to Facebook on Friday. They also posted photos of window security bars coming loose, the screws barely holding the bars to the wall.
“What other hidden defects could there be in other buildings?” the post read.
The residents demanded that authorities review and approve the safety of all of the housing units that received government repairs.
Eight of the development’s 10 buildings received structural reinforcement, which included complete renovations of the floors, stairwells and electrical, gas, water and drainage networks.
Authorities reviewed the damages on Saturday accompanied by a legal representative of the construction company that performed the repairs.
“The solution is to add angled anchors with 3/8-inch rods and epoxy resin to the floors, studs and interior faces of the walls,” said the reconstruction commission in a press release.
It added that it would carry out a timely review of the apartments and common areas of the other buildings in the complex to find any other safety issues.
Source: Animal Político (sp)
