A Gambian construction worker has died after a wall collapsed at a construction site in Malta on Thursday morning, local media reported. 

Police said the incident happened at around 8am in Sqaq l-Erwieh in Cospicua.

A police spokesperson told journalists that a boundary wall of a construction site had collapsed while excavation work was ongoing.

A worker was hit by the falling rubble and died on site.  The man was not initially identified, however police later confirmed that he is a 32-year-old man from The Gambia. His body was removed from the site by civil protection workers later on Thursday morning.

Another worker, a 35-year-old from Valletta, was taken to Mater Dei hospital. Police later confirmed that he is suffering from serious injuries.

The area is near an old cemetry and is quite an old part of Bormla, with the buildings in the alley apparently dating back to before the second world war.

Court experts, including an architect, are on site. A priest was also present on site to bless the body.

 “Pray for his soul – he was only trying to earn his daily bread”, he told journalists as he left the site.

OHSA representatives are also on site and were seen questioning a man believed to be the contractor.