City escalates building site probe after girl's death

An initial inspection on a Calgary construction site done after a girl was killed by a piece of metal that flew off the building has raised enough questions for city officials to launch a more thorough investigation.

Michelle Krsek, 3, was killed instantly on Saturday night when a piece of corrugated metal more than three metres long was blown from the top of a highrise under construction on Ninth Avenue S.W.

She had been walking with her family near the Calgary Tower. Her seriously injured father remains in hospital and her seven-year-old brother is recovering at home.

A senior safety code officer inspected the 18-storey Le Germain Calgary site on Sunday, checking for compliancewith building codes, said Marco Civitarese, supervisor of safety codes and building regulations for the City of Calgary.

The project under construction is an upscale condominium and office tower.

"Hoarding had to be in place. The guards had to be in place to ensure secured items [and that] workers were safe from not falling over edges and such. Those items were inspected on the original inspection report," Civitarese told CBC News on Thursday.

"Other conditions have prompted us to go further with an investigation."

Civitarese could not specify what areas were of concern to city inspectors, saying only that "anything that poses any undue risk to the public in general" would be scrutinized.

"At a preliminary stage, we're looking at everything, so I honestly can't comment on specifics," he said.

Any infractions of the Alberta Safety Codes Act could net the building's owner a maximum fine of $15,000 for each charge.

The city's probe, which could take up to six months to complete, is in addition to investigations by police and Alberta Occupational Health and Safety.

Other sites being examined

The province's workplace inspectors are also examining as many as 20 other construction sites in Calgary to determine whether the public or workers could be at risk should construction debris be kicked up in a windstorm.

Grenville-Germain Calgary Ltd., the company building the tower, has voluntarily stopped work on the site. A spokeswoman said the firm is co-operating with officials.

A trust fund has been established for the Krsek's family. A friend has also set up a website demanding answers about the girl's death.