NOVOSIBIRSK, January 21. /TASS/. The roof of a two-story shopping mall collapsed in the city of Novosibirsk.
TASS has compiled the key facts about the incident.
Circumstances of the emergency
- Roof structures and the second floor collapsed, emergency services are working on the site.
- The Emergencies Ministry launched search and rescue operations.
- The preliminary area of the collapse of the shopping center is 600 square meters, the regional department of the Emergencies Ministry said.
- According to the regional department of the Interior Ministry, cars are being sent back the other way in the street where the collapse occurred.
- Public transport in the area is taking alternative routes.
- Police officers have cordoned off the scene.
- Construction at the shopping mall and a large amount of snow are complicating the removal of rubble, Viktor Orlov, head of the regional department of the Emergencies Ministry, told reporters.
Victims
- Two people were injured, the city hall said.
- They are receiving medical care.
- While going through the rubble, the Emergencies Ministry rescued two women and handed them over to doctors.
- One of the injured women was sent home, the second to the city hospital, Tatyana Anokhina, regional Deputy Health Minister, told reporters.
- Later, a third person was pulled from under the rubble, but he died on the way to the hospital, a source in the emergency service told reporters.
Investigation
- A criminal case was opened on provision of services that do not meet safety requirements, a source in the regional investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Russia told TASS.
- The shopping mall was built without proper protocols, a source in the city hall said.
- The source said responsibility for the safety and maintenance of the building lies with the owner.
- It’s currently believed that the collapse happened because of too much snow on the roof of the building, Oleg Shemelov, head of the criminology department of the regional branch of the Investigative Committee, told reporters.
- He said that after working through the rubble, an investigative and operational group will work at the facility, which will remove parts of the building structures and document everything necessary for the investigation of the case.