WATCH | Mirabelle Falzon's parents in emotional plea for action to prevent other avoidable deaths

The parents of Mirabelle Falzon have called on authorities to learn from their mistakes and prevent needless deaths such as the one suffered by their daughter. 

On Saturday morning, Michael and Charmaine Falzon returned to the site of their daughter's death a little over one year after the tragedy. Mirabell had died when a rock fell on her head while she was enjoying the day with her boyfriend. 

The grieving parents spoke to the media alongside their lawyer, Conrad Borg Manche, and content creator, Conrad Neil Gatt who had previously flagged the danger of the area to the authorities. 

They were speaking following the conclusion of the magisterial inquiry into Miravelle's death, which found that reports about the dangers of Riħama Battery got lost in bureaucracy, as warnings were simply passed from one government entity to another. 

A few hours before the press conference, government said that it will be implementing a recommendation from the inquiry that called for a single central entity responsible for receiving reports regarding government-owned or private buildings, as well as walls, cliffs, or abandoned structures that pose a danger to the public.

Charmaine Falzon issued an emotional call for action on such dilapidated sites. "No one should have to go through what we went through," she said, adding that Mirabelle's family will carry this tragedy with them for the rest of their lives. 

Mirabelle's father, Michael thanked the inquiring magistrate for his detailed investigation. "It would have been better if the money that was spent on this inquiry went to fixing the Riħama Battery," he noted, saying that if that were the case, his daughter would still be enjoying life. 

Warnings about dangerous site were ignored

During the press conference, the family's lawyer, Conrad Borg Manche stated that the inquiring magistrate did not mince his words when speaking about the circumstances that led to Mirabelle's death.

The inquiry, Manche explains, notes that multiple reports were filed with authorities, with some of them as early as 2017. The most recent report was filed just four days before Mirabelle died. 

The lawyer stressed that the site could have been closed off earlier, but unfortunately, someone had to die before action could be taken.

Meanwhile, Conrad Neil Gatt, a content creator who was among those flagging the danger of the battery, noted that this site is not the only one posing a danger to the public.

Gatt voiced his frustration at the way authorities treated his warnings, calling for political responsibility to be shouldered over the needless death.