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His house is falling into the sea, but he refuses to leave: “I’m fine, everything will be fine”

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George Gardiner lives in a house located on top of a cliff that is gradually falling into the sea, but he doesn’t want to go.

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“I have the fence to lean on if I need to hold on… I manage. Everything will be OK“The 82-year-old man told the BBC, it is not known whether he was resigned or very optimistic.

The property is located in Luccombe, Isle of Wight, England. In the past and for 22 years it belonged to Gardiner and his late wife, who used it as a tea room.

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Gardiner is 82 years old.  And she doesn't want to go.  Photo: BBC

Gardiner is 82 years old. And she doesn’t want to go. Photo: BBC

How the debacle started

The building started collapsing after a water leak. Last year, the Mirror reports, a main pipe burst and new cracks appeared that could not be repaired in time.

The garden and the driveway have already yielded about one and a half meters from the ground level. For this reason, Isle of Wight Council has partially closed off the Outer Court.

The man, a former air ambulance pilot, refuses to leave his home despite being offered alternative accommodation by Southern Water.

Previously, the house was a tea room.  Photo: BBC

Previously, the house was a tea room. Photo: BBC

“I wonder what’s going to happen to me in the end, but it’s just one of those things, isn’t it? At least this time of year, everything is getting really dry. I hope I have at least one good summer here…but who do you know?” she said.

A Southern Water spokesman told the Mirror: ‘We are aware of Mr Gardiner’s case and received a complaint last year in relation to a leak in a communication pipe which allegedly caused the property to subside. The matter is complex and has been referred to our insurers who are currently investigating liability“.

Another kind of landslide

In October 2022, a rather peculiar collapse occurred in Naples, Italy, very different from the British one: A four-story building with hundreds of niches fell into a cemeterywho exposed numerous coffins, some of them hanging from above, and forced the entire tomb to be closed.

The owner has been offered an alternative home, but he doesn't want to hear about it.  Photo: BBC

The owner has been offered an alternative home, but he doesn’t want to hear about it. Photo: BBC

It was the second time in a year that the Poggioreale cemetery suffered a collapse, after another one, the previous 5 January, attributed to the works of the underground line.

Specifically, the disaster occurred in what is known as the Chapel of the Resurrection, a four-story building full of niches that partially collapsed, destroying dozens of tombs.

A part of the building did not collapse, but some coffins remained exposed and hung, in an image that has gone around the world for its desolation and sadness.

The facade of the house gave way.  It is not known what will happen to the others.  Photo: BBC

The facade of the house gave way. It is not known what will happen to the others. Photo: BBC

After the January 5 collapse, in which some 300 graves were destroyed, the Naples prosecutor’s office ordered the closure of the cemetery and launched investigations into 20 people for their alleged involvement in a disastrous crime in the construction of the subway.

Source: Clarin

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