This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/23/world/europe/latvia-supermarket-collapse.html
The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 7 | Version 8 |
---|---|
Death Toll Rises in Supermarket Collapse in Latvia | |
(about 7 hours later) | |
MOSCOW — The number of people killed in Riga, Latvia, when the roof of a crowded supermarket suddenly collapsed, reached 51 on Friday, and officials said hope was fading for at least 25 more victims believed to be trapped in the rubble. | |
Rescue workers struggled frantically to clear tons of concrete, metal and other debris from the supermarket Maxima, which was filled with more than 100 shoppers when the roof caved in around 5:45 p.m. on Thursday. | |
Among the dead were three firefighters who rushed into the badly damaged building to help the victims, only to get crushed in a secondary collapse. | |
Witnesses described a terrifying scene as slabs of concrete and a jumble of metal, wires and glass fell from above, then the building was plunged into darkness. Some told local news outlets that their escape was blocked when electronic gates automatically shut. | |
At least 35 people were injured, and 28 of them were hospitalized, including 10 firefighters, said Viktorija Sembele, a spokeswoman for the Latvian State Fire and Rescue Service. | |
Nearly 200 more firefighters remained at the scene, she added. | |
The building collapse was one of the worst disasters in the history of Latvia, a Baltic nation of slightly more than two million people that won its independence after the fall of the Soviet Union. | |
Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis declared three days of mourning to begin Saturday. “This sudden and tragic event has shaken our country,” he said. | |
The interior minister, Rihards Kozlovskis, told reporters that officials were investigating possible construction violations. “It is clear that there has been a problem with the fulfillment of construction requirements,” he told Reuters. | |
Local residents said that a winter garden had been under construction on the roof of the building, raising speculation that the weight of soil contributed to the disaster. | |
The collapse occurred in a residential neighborhood called Zolitude, located west of the Daugava River, not far from the city center. | |
Photographs of the scene showed tangles of debris and shattered glass piled outside the metal and glass building, which was surrounded by dozens of emergency vehicles and an armada of construction equipment, including bulldozers, front-end loaders and at least three cranes. |