The incident occurred early Thursday morning when residents alerted emergency services at 112, reporting that they felt "the ground moving". Adif immediately halted the surface works, which involved compacting embankments for a provisional railway diversion.
Firefighters inspected the three affected buildings and, after confirming no structural damage, allowed residents to return home. This incident recalls the scare on July 22nd, when a well wall collapsed during track-sotterament works in Montcada, near the Vallbona neighborhood.
Adif has assured that the works will not resume until it is "safe" and they have authorization from the Firefighters. The Spanish public company stated that the impact occurred at a "very specific" point and that the rest of the Vallbona variant is proceeding normally.
The deputy mayor, Jordi Valls, was critical of Adif, demanding that they "do things properly" and "reconsider" these tasks, or at least minimize the compactor's activity and its impacts if they proceed. "The residents had a scare, they had to leave their homes," he stated.
This incident adds to other recent accidents related to works in Barcelona, including the sinkhole on L9 in Sant Gervasi, a gas leak and explosion at the Plaça de Sants station, and a fire on an overhead line on L1.
