Original title: US 18 story building collapsed, key witness repatriated
A high-rise building under construction in New Orleans collapsed in mid October, killing three construction workers. Because of the great noise, the frightened tourists thought that "9 & bull; 11 terrorist attacks reappeared.".
The U.S. government's post-mortem handling has raised questions. So far, two bodies are still buried under the ruins, the local government has carried out directional blasting on the dangerous building.
After the incident, a surviving Latino construction worker said in an interview that the construction materials were inferior and the construction was not standard. On November 29, the U.S. Immigration Department repatriated him without a work visa. So far, the prosecution lost an important witness.
According to New Orleans local media Nola news on November 29, the U.S. immigration and Customs Enforcement (ice) confirmed that a latino man named delmer Joel Ramirez Palma had been sent back to Honduras.
Palma, 38, entered the United States in 1999. Without a work visa, he worked in New Orleans construction for 18 years, married and had a 10-year-old child. However, due to the collapse of the hotel under construction, Parma, who had survived, had to say goodbye to his wife and children. According to the observer network, the course of the incident is as follows:
On October 12, 2019, an 18 story building under construction in the city center collapsed suddenly, killing three construction workers. Parma and his companions were injured and rescued.
In an interview with Jambalaya, a local Spanish news network, on October 13, Palma revealed that the contractor forced them to use secondary materials. In the construction, part of the concrete pouring method is not qualified.
On January 14, officials and their family members went to the U.S. wildlife service to check their fishing documents. The latter immediately informed ice to arrest Parma.
Palma was injured in a collapsed building and was scheduled to have surgery in November, but was unable to keep his appointment due to ice detention. Meanwhile, U.S. prosecutors and their family lawyers launched an investigation into the accident. Federal investigators interviewed Parma three times. Parma's lawyer disclosed that Parma had repeatedly reported to its superiors that there were security loopholes in the building and unsafe factors in the construction environment.
The U.S. prosecutors need Parma's cooperation in the investigation, so the Louisiana labor Commission wrote to ice saying that Palma was an 'important witness' in the investigation, and that if he was repatriated, the public might never know the truth. But the U.S. immigration department still insisted on the decision.
It is worth noting that on October 25, the owner of the building, as the defense party, clearly stated in a letter to his lawyer team that all defense angles and maximum insurance coverage should be sought.
The Latino population in New Orleans has tripled in the past two decades. Observers noted that in the past two months, survivors of the building accident also revealed that there were 'Hispanic workers who do not speak English' at the construction site. For example, on October 19, a worker named belter Bermudez said, "I saw my colleague trapped and waved to me, and then I said (to the rescue workers), & lsquo; Enrique is here! & rsquo; because my friend doesn't speak English, I have to translate for him immediately. The rescuers finally took him to the hospital. Thank God! "
The 18 story building under construction collapsed on the morning of October 12. A week after the accident, the authorities chose to carry out directional blasting on the crane on the roof of the building without finding the two bodies. But so far, the search and rescue, reconstruction and other progress is slow. As of press release, the two bodies are still buried under the ruins.