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| Latvian government falls over Riga supermarket disaster | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Latvia's PM Valdis Dombrovskis has announced his resignation, and thereby the fall of his government, over the deadly collapse of a Riga supermarket. | |
| He made the announcement at a meeting with President Andris Berzins, Latvian and other media reported. | He made the announcement at a meeting with President Andris Berzins, Latvian and other media reported. |
| "The country needs a government which is capable of resolving the situation which has emerged," he was quoted as saying by the Baltic news agency Delfi. | "The country needs a government which is capable of resolving the situation which has emerged," he was quoted as saying by the Baltic news agency Delfi. |
| At least 54 people died when the supermarket collapsed last Thursday. | |
| President Berzins earlier described the disaster at the Maxima store as "murder" and called for foreign experts to investigate what had happened. | |
| The prime minister's spokesman told the AFP news agency on Wednesday that "the government takes political responsibility for the tragedy". | |
| According to Delfi, Mr Dombrovskis met the president for an hour and a half, during which Mr Berzins appears to have called on him to take responsibility for what happened. | |
| "I call on all who look to the future to assess their responsibility and act accordingly," the president was quoted by the agency as saying. | |
| The collapse was the biggest loss of life since Latvia became independent from the USSR in 1991. | |
| Three-time premier | |
| Police have opened a criminal investigation into the cause of the disaster. | |
| Structural experts have suggested that the supermarket building itself may have been badly designed and so not able to support a garden which was being built on the roof. | |
| After analysing photos, videos and eyewitness reports, one structural engineer suggested there had been numerous design flaws in the roof's supporting beams - including not enough bolts. | |
| Substandard construction materials and corruption are other possible lines of inquiry. | |
| Mr Berzins can either reject his prime minister's resignation or accept it and nominate an acting prime minister whose job it will be to form a new cabinet. | |
| Taking office in 2009, Mr Dombrovskis was charged with making harsh budget cuts and tax increases as well as tough structural reforms to tackle the country's economic crisis. | |
| He was twice re-appointed, and is widely credited with preventing the small Baltic country from going bankrupt. | |
| Latvia is due to join the eurozone on 1 January, becoming the 18th EU state to adopt the single currency. |