RIGA, November 22 (RIA Novosti) – The death toll in a grocery store collapse in the Latvian capital Riga rose to 50 on Friday as more bodies were recovered from the rubble, city mayor Nil Ushakov said.
Ushakov said late Friday that at least five people were possibly still trapped under the collapsed roof of the Maxima store.
Rescue services said some 40 injured people had been rescued from the rubble. Many of them were hospitalized in serious condition.
A second collapse took place when rescuers were already working at the scene, local news site Delfi reported. At least three rescuers were among the victims, the police said early Friday.
Eyewitnesses said they heard a loud pop before about 500 square meters (5,300 square feet) of the roof caved in. The building “fell like a house of cards,” an eyewitness told RIA Novosti on Thursday.
Officials were quick to claim there was no evidence of an explosion and blamed faulty building work.
“The building has been destroyed completely. Apparently, some violations were committed during construction,” Deputy Mayor Andris Ameriks said.
Construction work was under way at the time of the collapse to turn the building’s roof into a recreational area, Delfi reported.
Updates death toll, changes attribution.
