JeanPaul Sofia is 20-year-old victim of building collapse

The lifeless body of JeanPaul Sofia, 20, from Swatar was recovered by rescuers at around 1:40am on Sunday beneath the rubble of a three-storey building that collapsed during construction works.

Sofia's body was extracted from the rubble after rescuers from the Civil Protection Department removed, in a controlled way, a section of the building that had remained standing. His body was identified by his parents, who had been on site along with other relatives and friends since Saturday morning.

Rescuers had already recovered five other workers on Saturday, who were taken to hospital and are being treated for grievous and critical injuries. The five workers were three Albanians, a Bosnian and a Maltese man from St Paul's Bay.

However, the operation to recover Sofia's body lasted almost 16 hours as rescuers worked in dangerous conditions due to the instability of part of the structure that remained standing.

Footage shows Corradino building collapse that buried six workers

The building at the Corradino industrial estate collapsed at around 9:30am on Saturday as workers were pumping concrete on the ceiling of the third floor.

According to relatives, Sofia was not on duty but had gone to the site to hand over some tools to the workers. CCTV footage showed him entering the building just eight minutes before it collapsed.

Rescuers gradually closed in on the area where they believe the victim might have been but efforts were hampered by the sheer amount of rubble and instability of what was left of the structure. No communication had been established with the victim as rescuers removed rubble and unsafe structures slowly to avoid further collapse.

Dramatic CCTV footage showed the building collapsing after a section of the wall on the bottom floor gave way. The structure collapsed in a matter of five seconds.