Fifty-four people have been killed and dozens injured after the roof of a large store collapsed in Latvia’s capital, Riga. Latvian President Andris Bеrzins called for an immediate investigation into what he called the “murder of unprotected people.”
Rescue teams have halted their efforts to find any survivors in the rubble of the Maxima XX store in Riga’s Zolitude residential neighborhood, Latvian authorities said.
“We have decided to suspend work. There are zero chances of finding survivors,” Interior Ministry official Ilze Peterson-Godmane told reporters.
At least 13 people are still considered missing following the tragedy.
Two days after the collapse, no survivors have been rescued from the rubble in what has been described as the deadliest such incident in the Baltic state. A 3-day-long national mourning for the victims of the collapse was announced in Latvia beginning on Saturday.
Some 500 square meters of roof caved in at the store’s building
on Thursday night, trapping 70 people, according to Riga’s mayor
Nils Ušakovs. The initial collapse in Riga’s densely populated
area was followed by a second cave-in just as the first
responders at the scene were helping the victims. Three rescuers
and firefighters were killed by the second collapse.
Latvian President Andris Bērziņš has called for an immediate investigation into the disaster, saying that it should be treated as “the murder of many unprotected people” in comments to local broadcaster LTV. Bērziņš lashed out at the construction firm that was building a residential compound that included the store, saying that it was already trying to shun all responsibility for the collapse.
The government should also take part of the blame for the tragedy
as it failed to provide for its citizens’ safety, one of the
fundamental human rights, Latvian ombudsman Juris Janson said
Saturday.
“I think that discussions on liability are unnecessary. The
law proves that the state should bear responsibility for such
tragedies,” Janson said.
Two Russian citizens, a man and a woman, were among the victims
of the Maxima store collapse, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said
in a statement Saturday. Both had Latvian residence permits. A
female Armenian citizen was also killed in the disaster, the
ministry said.
At least one child has suffered a moderate head injury and has been hospitalized along with dozens of victims, RIA Novosti reports. Latvia will be in official mourning from November 23-25.
While the cause is currently unknown, Riga Vice Mayor Andry Ameriks refuted earlier eyewitness reports of an explosion and attributed the incident to a likely construction fault.
“Probably, mistakes were made by construction workers, which led to the collapse of the building,” Ameriks said. “The building collapsed completely. Now, all the rescue services are working at the scene. The most important thing now are the lives of the people.”
Traģēdijā 'Maximā' gājis bojā glābējs; miruši jau trīs cilvēki.ахереть..Рига ,Я теперь в максиму спокойно не зайду... pic.twitter.com/QAtyZonStA
— Сергей Юртаев (@SergioYurtaev) November 21, 2013
A total of 400 people were working at the scene including local and state police, some local home guards and at least 17 units of medics as well as 13 fire brigades. Soldiers of the National Armed Force also helped look for the victims with dog units. Another 40 soldiers were sent from the army garrison, local media reports.
Council official Juris Radzevics confirmed that the roof of the
supermarket, built in 2011, was in the process of being turned
into a green area.
"The project was submitted in accordance with all regulations
but of course we will be looking at whether materials and work
were [of] the proper standards," Mr Radzevics told
Latvian television.
Police are looking into several possible reasons for one of the
worst building collapses in the Latvian capital:
Constructions work on the roof, as witnesses told the media, a
winter garden was been built there; secondly, faults in the
building’s original design; and builders using the roof to keep
building materials, which then collapsed because of the excess
weight.