Experts Say Wall That Killed 9 in Dom. Rep. Poorly Built

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC – Experts said Monday that a concrete wall along an avenue in the Dominican Republic’s capital that collapsed over the weekend and killed nine people during heavy rains was poorly designed.

The government has come under scrutiny, with experts saying they had warned more than 20 years ago about the wall’s failures and lack of effort to fix them.

Civil Engineer Cristian Rojas told the Associated Press it had weaknesses in the design, and that it had no anchors in place.

Rojas, former President of the Dominican College of Engineers, Architects and Surveyors, said the force of the water in a flooded adjacent avenue, combined with the type of wall that was built, led to the collapse.