The ceiling in question is part of the Jolly Bacon factory. Workers were putting a concrete roof on part of the building when the whole iron support mesh gave way and sent the men tumbling to the floor about one-storey down.

Two men were trapped in the ensuing rubble mess and the Civil Protection Department were called in to extricate them. The seven men were rushed to hospital.

Three were understood to have sustained slight injuries, another three suffered fractures and the seventh worker was treated for shock. Duty magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera appointed a number of experts to assist in an on-site inquiry.