Family of Hamrun collapse victim Miriam Pace reach settlement with contractor

The family of the late Miriam Pace have signed a settlement agreement with MCZMC Developers, the company carrying out excavations nearby their house when it collapsed and killed Miriam Pace.

On behalf of the Pace family, lawyer David Bonello said the civil claims brought forward by the Pace family against the developers, the contractor, the architect of the project and the site technical officer were now settled.

The directors of MCZMC Developers – Malcolm Mallia, Matthias Mallia, Chris Zarb, Elton Joseph Caruana, Amanda Zammit and Simon Zarb – said the settlement with the family had been reached without any admission of responsibility from their part. “No criminal proceedings were ever taken against [the company] and no lawsuit was ever filed against them. Throughout this difficult process for all parties involved, the directors of the company have strived to offer their full support and cooperation with full empathy towards the situation. The settlement agreement reached yesterday is testimony to this.” 

Miriam Pace was found dead beneath the rubble of her house that collapsed on 2 March 2020. Pace's lifeless body was located just after 10pm and extracted from the rubble half-an-hour later by rescuers.

Rescuers had to slowly remove debris from an area indicated by a sniffer dog as the possible location of the victim.

Four persons are facing criminal proceedings in relation to Pace's death. The accused are the architect, site technical officer, contractor of the site that was being developed by Miriam Pace's home, together with a workman.

They are being charged with negligently causing Pace's death - a charge that carries a maximum punishment of four years in jail.

The criminal proceedings against the contractor, the architect of the project and the site technical officer remain unprejudiced, the family's lawer said.