Braga City Council and condominium tried for the death of three students in 2014 – Current Affairs

In the action, which takes place at the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Braga and behind closed doors, the parents of each victim demand compensation of 150 thousand euros.

This morning, among others, the person in charge of the condominium, the postman who worked in the area where that wall was located and a student who was at the site were interviewed.

The wall in question was a structure that had once housed the mailboxes of an existing building opposite but which had since been deactivated.

The condominium administrator said that in 2010 he had alerted Braga City Council to the risk of the structure falling, which had “cracks” and “some inclination”, and there were also “bumps” on the adjacent sidewalk, caused by tree roots.

Therefore, and given “the risk of falling” the wall, he called for measures to be taken to ensure the safety of passers-by.

“I never received a response from the chamber,” he added.

The Chamber, in turn, claims that it responded by giving the condominium a deadline to intervene to guarantee the safety of the structure, but nothing was done.

However, the physical file relating to this process disappeared from the Chamber’s archives, leaving the content of subsequent contacts maintained with the condominium unknown.

In the process, the Chamber alleges that the condominium was responsible for the repairs and maintenance of the structure, since the wall was an integral part of the building, thus not imposing any duty of supervision or repair on the municipality.

It also says that the inspection carried out did not conclude that the structure was in a situation that could pose a danger.

The facts date back to April 23, 2014, when, to celebrate a victory in a “war of courses”, as part of a customary action, four students from the University of Minho went to a wall, close to the academy, in Braga.

The wall ended up collapsing, killing three students who were at the base, also celebrating.

The victims’ parents believe that both the City Council and the condominium administration were aware of the risk of the structure collapsing, but that they did nothing to prevent access to the site.

In the criminal case, the four students who jumped on top of the wall went to trial, accused of negligent homicide, but the court ended up acquitting them.

For the court, and contrary to what the Public Ministry’s accusation said, it was not proven that the wall had “noticeable and easily noticeable” cracks and inclination.

Therefore, the court added, the defendants had no way of foreseeing that climbing the wall could trigger its fall.

At an early stage in the criminal proceedings, the condominium administrator and two members of the Braga City Council were also accused, but asked for an investigation to be opened, and the judge decided not to take them to trial.

At the time, the investigating judge admitted that, in some way, the three benefited from the disappearance, in the Braga Chamber, of the process relating to that location.

At the trial, the condominium administrator said that in 2010 he had alerted Braga City Council to the risk of the structure falling, which had “cracks” and “some inclination”, and there were also “bumps” on the adjacent sidewalk, caused by tree roots. .

Therefore, and given “the risk of falling” the wall, he called for measures to be taken to ensure the safety of passers-by.

“I never received a response from the chamber,” he added.

He also said that the condominium never carried out any intervention, because “it always understood that the wall did not belong to the building” and that “it was in the public domain”.