At least 45 people have died after the roof of a supermarket collapsed in the latvian capital Riga, rescuers said on Friday, upping a previous death toll.
The tragedy shocked the small Baltic State, with the Government declaring three days of mourning starting on Saturday and planning to hold a moment of silence on Monday for its worst accident since regaining independence in 1991. The roof of the Maxima supermarket smashed down on customers during peak shopping hours around 6.00 pm on Thursday in the Riga suburb of Zolitude.
Rescuers rushed to the scene, but many were themselves trapped when the roof caved in a second time. “Everything was crashing down: the walls, the roof, everything!” witness Jana told lNT television. “I don’t know what happened to the cashiers — if you were sitting down, there is no way you could have got out in time,” she said.
Police refused to say how many people were thought to be inside the two-year-old building, and there were fears that teenagers could have been among them as a high school is near the store. Among the dead were three firefighters who were killed trying to rescue people following the initial cave-in of the roof.