The residents of the 93 apartments evacuated due to a sinkhole in Sant Gervasi will not be able to return home today

BarcelonaA major scare this morning in the Sant Gervasi - la Bonanova neighborhood of Barcelona. A sinkhole eight meters in diameter and four meters deep, caused by works on metro line 9, has forced the evacuation of eight buildings on Rubinstein, Teodora Lamadrid, and Sant Gervasi de Cassoles streets. The incident did not cause injuries, but it did force the evacuation of dozens of residents who were at the time in the blocks around the interior courtyard where the sinkhole occurred. In total, 93 apartments are affected, but the exact number of residents living there is currently unknown, and they will have to sleep away from home at least tonight. In total, throughout the day, the social emergency and crisis center has attended to 85 people.

According to the account of the Minister of Territory, Sílvia Paneque, early this morning – between seven and eight – from the L9 works, an "abnormally high" increase in vertical movements was detected in the sensors installed in buildings and elements of the area, which measured displacements of 4 millimeters. From there, technicians and firefighters began an inspection that detected the sinkhole and led to the evacuation of residents in the affected blocks. Initially, there were only four, but as the morning progressed and for safety reasons, the perimeter was extended to affect eight buildings.

One of the first to see the sinkhole was the manager of the Verona pizzeria, at number 3 Teodora Lamadrid street, Domingo Fínez. He explains that when he opened the shop's shutter, he saw something strange in the bathroom and thought he had left the light on. When he opened the door, he explains, he found that the sinkhole had swallowed the entire bathroom. "We are in a state of shock," he said, and celebrated that luckily there was no one else in the premises at that moment.

The ghost of Carmel

Although the memory of the Carmel events twenty years ago has immediately reverberated in Putxet, the head of Geotechnics and Underground Works of the Territori department, Laura Carrasco, has ruled out that they are comparable cases. Carrasco explained that it is a "totally different" situation because the construction system has nothing to do with it. In this regard, she explained that the same system makes it impossible for the sinkhole to become deeper. "This cavity can no longer evolve further in depth," she said.

Specifically, the tunnel boring machine that is making the central section of L9 leaves behind a metallic shield in the shape of a cylinder that acts as "provisional support" which is then filled with concrete and gives rise to the definitive tunnel. This, she said, means that "there can be no collapses over the shield." In the afternoon, Paneque explained that the definitive tunnel is already in the affected area. The minister also explained that the first hypotheses point to some landslip having occurred after the machinery had already bored through.

From the scene and next to the mayor, Jaume Collboni, Paneque said that the tunnel boring machine had already advanced about 12 meters from the area where the sinkhole occurred. She also specified that the machinery continues to operate because this also facilitates the work of the technicians, who since midday have been working to refill the sinkhole with concrete and stabilize the area. Work that, she said, may last until dawn. From here, the concrete will have to be allowed to set and the situation will have to be re-analyzed first thing in the morning to see if a schedule can be defined for the residents to return home.

Residents report cracks for days

Among the evacuated neighbors was Mercedes, who works in an office on the mezzanine of one of the affected buildings on Rubinstein street. She explains to ARA that between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. a worker from the L9 construction work asked them if they had noticed any damage. It was then that she realized that a door was not closing and that the floor had risen. After a while, the Firefighters asked them to evacuate the building.

Teresa was also at home when the sinkhole occurred. She explains that around 9 a.m. she was in her room, in the building at Teodora Lamadrid street number 5, when she heard a loud noise. "As if it were thundering, but in a closed place," she describes. Immediately, she explains, the Firefighters called her to leave the house, with just enough time to take a quick shower, grab her medication, and leave. After a while, her daughter Maite arrived, who took her to her home while they wait for news about when they can return.

The neighbors, many of whom took refuge in the Sant Gervasi Market – right in front of the affected buildings –, report that the tunnel boring machine's work has been causing problems for days. Mari Carmen, for example, says that cracks have been appearing in her garage (in a building not yet affected) for days. Mercedes also recalls that a few days ago a piece of the sidewalk on Sant Gervasi de Cassoles was lifted. In fact, two weeks ago, the concern about whether the L9 works were behind this was already conveyed at the Neighborhood Council. This Tuesday, Paneque dismissed it. Later, from the Ministry of Territory, it was detailed that they only received a notice from a building a week ago and that during the inspection, pathologies prior to the works were found, as well as others that are still being analyzed to see if they are related to the underground works.

Although at one point a space was set up in the market to attend to the neighbors, the Barcelona Center for Urgent Social Care and Emergencies (CUESB) later opened an attention point at the Sant Gervasi - Joan Maragall Library. Evacuated neighbors were attended to there. The mayor, Jaume Collboni, explained that some of the neighbors will sleep at the homes of relatives, friends, or in hotels, and that others will be attended to by the CUESB and housed by the City Council "for as long as necessary." Finally, only two neighbors requested the CUESB's services to spend the night.