The building, a former warehouse that was to be converted to a hotel, had been issued with two separate prohibition notices by the Health and Safety Executive and Hull city council.
A spokesperson for the HSE said: “We issued a prohibition notice to the building’s owners on 22 February. We were concerned that there were people on the site who were not being supervised by a planning supervisor or a principal contractor.”
The spokesperson added that the HSE notice also raised concerns about the stability of the building. “Our notice stated that areas of the building were likely to suffer structural collapse,” he said. The spokesperson added that the HSE was investigating the accident.
UCATT general secretary and Health and Safety Commissioner George Brumwell said criminal proceedings should be instituted against whomever was deemed responsible for the accident.
He said: “People are being killed at an alarming rate in our industry and it has to stop. This is National Construction Week and we are talking about Respect for People initiatives. But the lack of regard for the safety of our operatives shows we have no respect for their lives.”
It is understood that a major internal wall gave way causing four of the building’s internal floors to collapse.
The deceased have not been identified and the HSE spokesperson said he was unable to say who they were employed by. The owner of the building is Marketing Development of Africa, a London-based company.
The HSE spokesperson added that the company was registered at Companies House as a general importer and exporter. It employs four people.
Marketing Development of Africa could not be contacted, however in an interview with the Hull Daily Mail, Murli Thadani, a director of the firm, said he was “shocked and upset”.
Rescue workers worked for 30 hours but were forced to stop by the building’s instability.
