Finding out who was to blame for yesterday's tragedy at Stonington could be prove a legal minefield.

Police were refusing to speculate on what caused the land slippage which killed Andre Trott Bicari yesterday, but insurance people were spotted at the site as rescue crews battled in vain to save her.

Police spokesman Mr. Caines said Police had not been told the construction crew from Elbow Beach had inspected the wall the day before.

But Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott said: "It appears a retaining wall to the Elbow Beach property gave way and the volume of material took out the road and came down to parking lot."

One eye witness told The Royal Gazette he had seen a concrete mixer truck crew check out the scene the day before as he paid the area a visit.

"The guys were looking over the top. Of course they were looking at safety. But if they felt something they should have told the college.

"You could see people hanging over."

Both the college and Elbow Beach were staying tight-lipped last night when asked who owned the wall which adjoins their properties in Paget.

Elbow Beach Director of Communications Kendaree Burgess-Fairn said: "The entire incident is under investigation.

"It would be unwise for me to make a statement as to anything which might be material to the case."

Asked to respond to a report that truckers had stopped the day before to look at the site because they were concerned Mrs. Burgess-Fairn said: "This sort of question is material to the investigation so it is best not to answer this in a public forum."

She also declined to speculate on whether heavy construction truck traffic had a major effect on the disaster.

She said: "It's true construction trucks were using that road. Work has been going on for quite a while, probably the project started about a year ago."

She said she was sure the investigation would be done professionally and quickly.

She said trucks had been using the access road for about a year during the building of a waste water treatment plant near Cafe Lido.

Hotel bosses were meeting last night to assess whether the destruction of the road would stop work.

Bermuda College communications director Evelyn James Barnett said a Government investigation taking place would determine who owned the wall.

She said: "There are engineers from planning out there now."

Asked about the stream of building traffic using the road Mr. Scott said: "It's early days but maybe the weight of that heavy equipment, the rain we have just recently had and the weight of all of this has led to what we have today."

The Fire department's Lieutenant Dana Lovell said: "The bank is very, very unstable at this time and will be for quite some time."

Government engineers from Works and Engineering will assess the site alongside teams from Health and Safety.

He said fire department staff would be sent around the Island to assess if weaknesses had been exposed in similar sites with steep banks although he described the Stonnington tragedy as "an aberration."

"There might be a site further south, but that's unconfirmed."

He said Bermuda was mainly limestone and tended to be stable but there were occassionly big veins and pockets of sand.

"It's mainly a very strong, stratified rock."

However Mr. Scott said landslides happened from time to time in Bermuda.

He said: "That's why we have to be very judicious in the building of retaining walls and the like because the weight of material once the rain really set in..."

He said the planning department set standards on the width of retaining walls.

Mr. Scott said people needed to make sure there was sufficient drainage to lessen the risk.

Bermuda Weather Centre Meteorologist Elizabeth Nelson said nearly half an inch of rain had fallen between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. yesterday morning.

"In summer we can get that in 15 minutes but in the warmer months it evaporates more quickly."

However she said December had been wetter than usual and the ground might have become more sodden.

She said: "It might have contributed. Certainly we have had quite a bit of rain."