Supermarket evacuated in Riga amid collapse fears

  • 2014-01-08
  • From wire reports, RIGA

A Maxima supermarket in Riga was evacuated on Jan. 7 after a fire alarm was set off.

Shoppers in the supermarket on K.Valdermara Street were ordered out of the shop before the Fire and Rescue services arrived.

 Rescue crews scanned the premises, however, nothing suspicious was discovered during the search.

In two separate events on Jan.2 and 4, a Maxima store on Dzelzavas Street was evacuated.

Janis Beseris from Maxima Latvia Ltd later said that a glitch in the system had triggered the alarm on Jan. 2. On Jan. 4, the sensor in the kitchen overreacted to steam.

The importance of alarm systems that function properly, in the context of Maxima supermarkets, is more than obvious, Beseris said. 

The heightened emergency measures at the supermarket come after 54 people died in a Maxima supermarket in Riga's Zolitude neighbourhood. It's the biggest single loss of life in recent Latvian history.