54 dead after Riga supermarket collapse

54 casualties

When the emergency services had already arrived, a second part of the roof
caved in, killing three paramedics. Seven people are still missing, but presumed dead. The search will no longer focus on trying to find survivors, but to clear the debris with heavy machinery. Authorities have disclosed the names of the 54 casualties.

It remains unclear why the roof came down, but a recently designed winter garden on the roof
may have been the trigger. The extra weight of the sand may have caused the tragedy,
causing the roof to buckle. The
supermarket had only been there two years, even winning
an architecture prize.

The chain, Maxima, has stores in
Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Bulgaria and is the largest employer in the Baltics with nearly 30,000 employees. It approaches 500 stores, creating a turnover of more than 8 billion
Latvian lats (12 billion euro).

(Translated and updated by Gary Peeters)