The Civil Protection Department yesterday continued toiling to clear out the wreckage in Hal Dghejf Street, Naxxar.

The area is where a garage full of explosives blew up on Wednesday, resulting in the loss of life of a 35-year-old mother of two, Sina Sammut, and probably that of 57-year-old Pawlu Camilleri. The rescue teams have been searching for him since then and the chances that he is still alive must be regarded as very slim to say the least.

Another man, Vincent Borg, 52, appeared in court yesterday after a police investigation uncovered the fact that a garage in the same road (a residential area) contained more fireworks and explosives (see page 4). The man who is missing is understood to have kept explosives in two garages in the street.

Three houses in the street were flattened in the blast, and others have to be demolished as they are no longer considered to be structurally sound.

The owner of one of the houses, the father of a teenager who miraculously cheated death, is Edward Bugeja.

He is an MCAST employee and Principal and CEO of MCAST Maurice Grech yesterday launched a collection fund to assist the family, which is now homeless.

In the appeal, Ing. Grech said that the fund was being set up to assist the family in trying to deal with their immediate problems. “It could have been any one of us,” Ing. Grech said.

The fund is lodged in Bank of Valletta account: 4001704945-4.