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Riga Construction Board: violations in Maxima roof reconstruction may have caused store's roof to collapse

BC, Riga, 22.11.2013.Print version
It is impossible to say with any certainty at the moment what exactly triggered the disaster at the Maxima supermarket in Riga's Zolitude, but one of the possible reasons is violations of the relevant construction rules during a construction activity on the building's roof, Riga Construction Board's head Inguss Vircavs said in an interview with Latvian State Television this morning, writes LETA.

Vircavs went to the scene yesterday evening, and he saw that various construction supplies had been placed in several places on top of the roof.

 

According to the construction project, a green roof was to be built for the supermarket, with benches and other infrastructure, Vircavs said in an interview with Latvian State Radio. The project was proceeding as per plans, but it may be that construction supplies had been placed in wrong places on the roof, disregarding the permissible loads certain roof sections could bear.

 

Right after the tragedy, the Construction Board members revised the construction project, concluding that it had all the necessary authorizations and that the project was in line with the relevant regulations.

 

Vircavs said that the Construction Board would also perform an in-depth examination of the project and implementation thereof.

 

He went on to say that the Construction Board would check all projects currently implemented by the Re&Re construction company.

 

As of 10:15 a.m. this morning, 26 dead bodies have been recovered from the collapsed Maxima'supermarket in the Riga suburb of Zolitude, LETA was told by State Police press representative Sigita Pildava.

 

Three of the deceased are firefighters.

 

35 people have been injured, of which 28 have been hospitalized, the Emergency Medical Service informed LETA.

 

Most of the injured persons are between the ages of 25 to 45, State Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman Viktorija Sembele told LETA. Furthermore, it is not yet known how many people are still under the rubble of the building.

 

As reported, the roof of the Maxima supermarket caved in Thursday evening. It is impossible to say at the moment how long the rescue operation will continue. It is also still unknown how many people may be still trapped underneath the rubble.


 Rescue works at the collapsed Maxima supermarket in Riga will continue for at least another 24 hours, Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis (Reform Party) said after a Crisis Council meeting today.

 

The minister also added that rescuers have sufficient resources available to them, and that the responsible services will have a list prepared of all the resources still needed by the government's emergency meeting at noon today.

 

Meanwhile, State Fire and Rescue Service Chief Normunds Plegermanis said that the scene of the rescue operation remains very dangerous, but rescue works will continue. He also said that rescue works will continue for at least another 24 hours, and that it is hard to tell how many more people still might be below the rubble. According to some calculations, approximately 30 more people could still be trapped.

 

LETA also reported, the roof of the Maxima supermarket caved in Thursday evening. It is impossible to say at the moment how long the rescue operation will continue. It is also still unknown how many people may be still trapped underneath the rubble.






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