Maputo — Maputo City Council has sent the report on the December collapse of a five storey building in the centre of the Mozambican capital to the Attorney-General's Office for legal proceedings.

The report was presented on Wednesday to a sitting of the elected Municipal Assembly. The meeting heard of how the design for the building was seriously flawed, and that poor quality concrete and "hugely incorrect building procedures" had been used.

Those responsible for the design were mid-level building technicians. and under Mozambican law staff of this level are not allowed to draw up plans for large-scale buildings without the supervision of a trained architect.

These factors all contributed to the sudden collapse of the building, in which one person, a night watchman, was killed.

The mayor of Maputo, Eneas Comiche, told reporters that criminal action will be taken against those responsible for the collapse. "We are working so that all those involved in the construction of that building will be held responsible", he said.

Responsibility lies not just with the company that had the building licence. Also in question, Comiche said, was the quality of the services provided by staff of the City Council's own construction and town planning department.