Two held over 2013 Riga supermarket collapse

Two people  have been arrested as part of the investigation into the collapse of the Maxima supermarket in the Riga suburb of Zolitude in November 2013. The two have been identified as Ivars Sergets, alleged to have worked as the civil engineer on the supermarket, which was completed in 2011, and Andris Gulbis, who worked as the construction expert on the project. Gulbis is a board member at the Latvian architectural firm GP Projektu Birojs, and also owns the majority of the company's shares (70.29 percent). Both men refrained from commenting to the press. An unnamed legal entity also has the status of a suspect in the case. Riga Zemgale District Court set custody as a measure of precaution for Sergets and Gulbis yesterday.

However, a colleague of Gulbis's who spoke to LETA on the condition of anonymity claimed that Gulbis had not inspected the construction design for the Maxima supermarket. He told LETA that, according to Gulbis, the project he was working on involved roof constructions that were meant to be supported by continuous beams. However, it turned out later that the supermarket's roof constructions contained sectional beams that were connected with bolts.

Gulbis was hired to carry out the inspection individually as a certified construction engineer; he was not representing GP Projektu birojs at the time, Gulbis' colleague said.

Latvia's Prosecutor General, Eriks Kalnmeiers, has said that more people will be arrested as part of the investigation. During an interview with the LNT show Rita Panorama this morning, Kalnmeiers said he was not authorised to give any details about the current suspects, but he confirmed that the two persons who were detained yesterday will not be the last ones in this case.

"The number of suspects will definitely increase. Their responsibility will be fully evaluated in this case," Kalnmeiers said.

54 were killed and many more injured when the roof of the Maxima supermarket collapsed on Nov 21, 2013.