Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


               21 Dead After Roof Collapse at Latvian Supermarket

   by Reuters

   Rescue workers pulled more bodies from the ruins of a collapsed
   supermarket in the Latvian capital, Riga, on Friday, taking the death
   toll to 21 with others feared buried in the rubble.

   TV pictures before dawn showed the wreckage of the Maxima store, in a
   suburb of gray, Soviet-era housing, surrounded by fire trucks and
   ambulances after the roof collapsed on Thursday. At the time of the
   collapse, the store was full of shoppers on their way home from work.

   The store, estimated at around 500 square meters in size, was bathed in
   spotlights as diggers and rescue workers cleared away the wreckage.

   "Twenty-one dead found, searching continues," the State Fire and Rescue
   Service said in a tweet.

   Earlier, ambulance service spokeswoman Ilze Buksa told Latvian TV that
   28 people had been injured and taken to the hospital.

   It was not clear what caused the collapse, but Interior Minister
   Rihards Kozlovskis told Latvian TV by telephone, "it is clear that
   there has been a problem with fulfillment of construction
   requirements."

   Around 25 people waited near the wreckage for news of their relatives.
   The number of those trapped was so far unknown.

   "I have a wife there. There is no information about her, whether she is
   dead or alive. Wherever I call, there is no information," said Igor
   Umanov.

   After 15 hours of rescue work, he said he still believed his wife was
   alive.

   Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis told Latvian TV that rescue work may
   take a long time.

   According to local media, the store had been awarded an architecture
   prize when it was completed in 2011.

   Rescue workers were stopping work periodically to listen for survivors
   and for the sounds of mobile phones in the wreckage, Latvian TV said.

   A spokesman for the Maxima store said that five of its employees had
   been injured, two had been taken to the hospital but three had not yet
   been found.

   "Of course, psychologically it is very hard to work, taking into
   account that three firefighters have died," Latvian rescue services
   spokeswoman Inga Vetere told Latvian radio.

   Early on Friday, cranes were working to lift and take off concrete
   blocks which are hampering rescue efforts, state fire and rescue
   service chief Oskars Abolins told Latvian TV.

   "As we have to search all the rubble and the whole construction, rescue
   work might continue for another day," he said.

   Local media said workers had been building a roof garden on the store.

   Former Soviet republic Latvia, which joins the euro zone next year, has
   been recording strong economic growth after a deep recession in the
   years following the global credit crisis, but it is still one of the
   poorest countries in Europe.
     __________________________________________________________________

   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/twenty-one-dead-after-roof-collapse-a
   t-latvian-store/1795288.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/twenty-one-dead-after-roof-collapse-at-latvian-store/1795288.html