Latvia Supermarket Collapse Thursday Nov 21,2013

Hordes of shoppers were picking up food after work in the Latvian capital when an enormous section of the supermarket’s roof caved in.

Firefighters rushed in to save them, only to be crushed themselves when a second part of the roof collapsed.

The death toll from the rush-hour disaster Nov 21,2013 Thursday evening at the Maxima supermarket in Riga rose to at least 51 on Friday Nov 22,2013 including three firefighters, police said

Spokesman Toms Sadovskisk said the death toll is expected to go even higher, and that six of the dead were still unidentified.

Another 35 people were injured, 28 of them hospitalized, including 10 firefighters struck just as they entered the unstable building, the Fire and Rescue Service said.

The reason for the collapse was still not known, but rescue and police officials said workers had been building a garden on the roof as part of the supermarket’s original design. Riga Mayor Nils Usakovs told reporters that large bags of earth and sand on a weak spot on the roof could have caused the collapse.

It was the largest tragedy for the Baltic state since it regained independence in 1991. Latvia’s government declared three days of mourning starting Saturday Nov 23,2013

The head of a supermarket chain in Latvia has lost his job over controversial comments he made after the collapse of a shop in Riga.
Gintaras Jasinskas, chairman of Maxima Latvia, sparked anger by saying: "It is those who feel guilty who resign."
His remarks came after he was asked whether any company executives would follow Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis' lead and step down.