At least 32 people have been killed after the
roof of a supermarket collapsed in the Latvian capital, Riga. Three of the dead
were emergency workers, and there are fears that more people could be trapped
inside. It is the country’s worst disaster since it gained independence from
the Soviet Union in 1991.
The supermarket won an architectural prize
when it opened just a couple of years ago, and the cause of the collapse is
unclear, though there are reports that a garden was being built on the roof.
Police are investigating to see whether there have been any breaches of
building regulations.
Relatives have been asked to call the mobile
phone numbers of those still missing to help rescue services locate them
in the rubble. Witnesses said customers tried to run out when the roof started
to collapse, but that the supermarket's electronic doors closed, trapping them
inside.
Probably the deadliest store collapse of all
time happened in the South Korean capital, Seoul, in 1995, when the five-storey Sampoong
department store collapsed, killing 501 people. A police investigation revealed
that it had been built with sub-standard cement and had been inadequately reinforced.
For the full story, see A Disastrous
History of the World.
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