Latvia marks one year since supermarket roof collapse tragedy

Latvia is marking one year since the collapse of a supermarket roof in Riga that killed 54 people. 

On November 21, 2013, the roof of a Maxima supermarket collapsed on shoppers in the Zolitude neighborhood in Riga becoming the biggest single loss of life in Latvia in recent years.

Scores of people are visiting the scene of the tragedy today to lay flowers and light candles in memory of those who died, LETA reports.

The memorial place is decorated with the national flag, flowers placed in several rows, candles, photographs of those who died in the tragedy,

"Today we commemorate the victims of the Zolitude tragedy and mourn together with the families," former Latvian Prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis tweeted.

Following the tragedy, Dombrovskis resigned together with a number of officials in charge of the construction sector were fired after taking personal responsibility for the collapse.

Several task forces were set up to work on legislative initiatives that were to improve the regulations on the construction sector.

Various measures were implemented in the wake of Zolitude tragedy to determine the cause of the tragedy and the contributing factors.

In one year since the Zolitude tragedy, the government passed several decisions on compensation payments to the families of the victims and to allot extra funds to the authorities involved in liquidation of the consequences of the disaster.

However, an investigation is still continuing and nobody has been brought to account so far.

The collapse of the Maxima supermarket in Zolitude brought to light a number of shortcomings in construction regulations. The State Construction Supervisory Bureau was established this past October to supervise construction sites and buildings' safety.

The Construction Law was revamped and now stipulates a number of new provisions. For instance, building inspectors now have to visit a construction site at least 2-4 times while a given construction project is under way, and file a report on their findings following each inspection.

A number of other laws were amended to improve safety of buildings and infrastructure, and to inform residents about the relevant safety measures.

(Edited by Rayyan Sabet-Parry)