Supermarket death toll rises to 52
Print Edition
Latvia was mourning its dead yesterday after rescuers spent a second night looking for survivors in the rubble of a Riga supermarket whose roof collapsed, killing at least 52 people.
The latest body was hauled out at dawn and hopes of finding anyone alive were dwindling nearly two days after the worst disaster since Latvia’s 1991 independence.
The small Baltic state of two million began three days of official grieving over Thursday’s tragedy as officials began investigating the causes of the disaster.
“The latest body was found this morning at 6am bringing the total to 52, including two bodies that are still unidentified,” police spokesman Toms Sadovskis said yesterday.
Rescuers continued to comb the mangled Maxima supermarket’s wreckage of steel and concrete as morning mists rose after a second night of work in near-zero temperatures.
Riga mayor Nils Usakovs said on Friday that five people were feared trapped inside but it was unclear how many were still believed to be missing yesterday. Forty people survived the catastrophe, according to rescue services.
A ring of thousands of glowing candles and heaps of flowers decked the perimeter crash barriers surrounding the disaster site, placed by a constant stream of shell-shocked members of the public.
“I don’t even know why I’m here. It just seems important. Maybe if there is still someone in there they can feel that we are here,” pensioner Normunds Andersons said.
Flags were being flown from houses across the country with a black sash attached — a traditional sign of mourning.
Just days after November 18 independence celebrations, the tragedy snuffed out an upbeat mood in Latvia, with 2014 set to mark its entry in the eurozone and showcase Riga as the European capital of culture.
The mood in the Martina coffee shop in central Riga yesterday morning was despondent.
“It’s awful. That could have been any one of us — you, me — anyone who goes to buy bread and milk,” said a waitress.
Child Protection Inspectorate director Laila Rieksta-Riekstina said that 16 children had lost one parent and one child had lost both parents in the tragedy.
Speculation about the cause of the collapse has centered on plans for a rooftop garden and the possibility building regulations may not have been followed in full.
The supermarket was built in 2011 and was named one of the country’s top three architecture projects that year.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
