At least 5 killed, 12 injured as building collapses in Russia's southwest

Get short URL

Published time: December 13, 2012 15:07
Edited time: December 14, 2012 16:42

Building collapses in Taganrogm Russia (Image from Twitter/@mainsloth)

Download video (5.9 MB)
Embed

Tags

Accident, Russia

A three-story building under construction has collapsed in the port city of Taganrog, killing at least five people and wounding twelve. Nine people are still missing, RIA Novosti reports, quoting the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

"Fourteen people have been pulled out of the rubble; five of them have died," the Ministry says. "Up to nine people may remain in the debris."

Twelve people have been taken to hospital; according to the local Health Ministry; condition of seven of them is serious to critical.

Around 30 construction workers, some of them foreigners, were reportedly at the scene when the building crumbled. Some of the workers were evacuated in the wake of the incident.

Up to 300 people are working at the scene searching for those missing and removing the debris.

The cause of the collapse remains unclear, but local authorities suspect errors in construction. The construction cite is reported to belong to a local investor who was planning to build a small-sized appartment house.

A criminal case has been opened into the deaths, citing charges of security violations at construction sites which lead to deaths of two or more people. Police are also checking if migrants working at the site have job permits and visas.

Taganrog is a port city of over 250,000 people on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov.

Image from Twitter/@mainsloth

Comments (3)

Kihnu (unregistered) 13.12.2012 19:46

Tomasz,

Exact ly.

One of my relatives in Estonia used to say "... my day is not complete without stealing something from the State".

Durin g the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics, the Soviet Union made a big deal about sprucing up Old Town Tallinn in preparation for the regatta events. They painted the old Hansa houses in Raekoja Platz with brilliant colors. These colors lasted through a few rain falls and stated to peal. The problem was the the construction workers stole most of the paints for themselves and diluted the paints they used.

Two different crews, one Finnish and the other Soviet, were used to construct of the tall Viru Hotel in Tallinn. The Finns finished their section head of time and then had to come back and assist the Soviets who were muddling along in the normal "workers paradise" style.

I am looking forward to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics with great anticipation.

Undo

Tomasz (unregistered) 13.12.2012 19:19

@kihnu--- Just the other day my father was telling me how in Poland during communism, materials like concrete or sand were rare, so if you had connections to truckers, for example, you could pay them off to deliver the sand at your lot instead of an official construction zone. This was often done and the workers at the original construction site found a way to continue building even if they were missing materials. That's why building quality was so awful.

Undo

kihnu (unregistered) 13.12.2012 18:25

Probably as a result of construction workers stealing concrete and other construction materials to build their own dachas. This sort of thievery is a peculiar Russian phenomenon.

Undo