The apartment block which collapsed in Paceville had “long-standing structural issues,” a company affiliated to the one which owns the adjacent construction site said in a statement on Thursday.

Excel Finance PLC, which is affiliated to the company Excel Property Trading Ltd – the owner of the site, and a company owned in part by Gozitan developer Joseph Portelli – issued a statement through the Malta Stock Exchange on Thursday, the afternoon after an apartment block collapsed in Paceville.

The apartment block – named Tania Flats – situated in Triq Paceville dramatically collapsed on Wednesday night, just hours after 32 people residing inside had been evacuated over fears about the building’s stability.

The block collapsed into a construction site next door, where Excel has permits to build a significantly sized hotel.  The construction site used to be the popular Avenue Restaurant, although it has since been demolished.

The company said that “the collapse was not caused by any works commissioned by Excel Property Trading Limited” and said that the company’s appointed architect had noticed “visual defects” on the apartment block himself, and immediately engaged with the block owners and the architects responsible for previous structural works on the block.

“During the discussions it became known that Tania Flats had long-standing structural issues, and the owners committed to commence urgent structural remediation work, aimed at addressing the serious defects that had been identified in the said Tania Flats,” the company said.

The Malta Independent reported earlier in the day that days ago an architect had found damage on the building that collapsed that was not present when a condition report was carried out last November.

The architect's report was filed with the Building and Construction Authority on 9 June, on behalf of his clients - understood to be the owners of part of the property which collapsed in Paceville on Wednesday night.

It is also understood that this report is what led to the stop works notice being issued by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) on the construction site right next door on Tuesday.

The report detailed significant cracks and new damages across the property, and said that the property in question was a danger, and "this might be the last warning the building may give prior to a more serious scenario."

The company meanwhile said that the architect engaged by Excel as well as architects from Tania Flats “agreed that the site had deteriorated and the decision to evacuate 32 residents resulted to be lifesaving.”

The company said that Excel Property Trading Ltd has “fully cooperated with the authorities, including by complying with a precautionary stop notice issued on its site and will continue to follow all directions provided by the relevant authorities while remaining fully committed to supporting the ongoing investigations into this incident.”