page_title: Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse
section_title: Collapse
hierarchical_section_title: Zolitūde shopping centre roof collapse / Collapse
caption_attribution_description: English: Emergency and Rescue services gather near the entrance of Maxima XX Zolitude store after a roof collapse that took lives of 54 people.
context_page_description: On 21 November 2013 the roof of the Zolitūde shopping centre in the Zolitūde neighbourhood of Riga, Latvia, collapsed at 17:41 local time resulting in the deaths of 54 people, including three rescue workers, and injuries to another 41 people. An unknown number of people were able to leave the store on their own after the initial collapse. It was the worst disaster in Latvia since 1950, when the steamer Mayakovsky sank in Riga, killing 147 people.
context_section_description: Eyewitnesses said that at around 16:21 a fire alarm was set off and there were announcements made that the store should be evacuated. Security personnel verified this to be related to welding construction in the basement and switched off the alarm. It was later reported that the owner of the company which had installed the alarm said that it was designed to detect fire emergencies. He said it is unlikely that the alarm was set off by dust from the roof starting to collapse, as it was set off near water pipes in the basement. The store's security verified that there was no fire and therefore did not carry out an evacuation, but rather treated it as a false alarm and called a technician to turn it off. The building collapsed shortly after the technician arrived and he was not able to verify why the alarm had gone off. A board member of "Maxima Latvija" said that security had followed protocol, which was not to evacuate if there was no visible danger. According to some reports, the smaller shops in the retail centre, unlike Maxima, were evacuated and closed. Many customers, however, stayed in the store, encouraged by the calm demeanor of Maxima's employees. Some employees of the smaller shops also started returning to their workplaces after being told by security that it was a false alarm. It has also been reported by witnesses that at around 17:00 the alarm was turned off.
  The roof caved in at 17:41 local time. Because the collapse occurred during peak shopping hours, it was suspected that at least a hundred people may have been in the store during the collapse. Eyewitnesses said the roof collapsed over the checkout counters, where many people were waiting to pay, and over the dairy, alcoholic beverage and household chemicals sections. This was confirmed by police who released a map based on CCTV footage just before the collapse. It was later reported that the collapse started over counters 6, 7 and 8. There were more than 50 employees working in the various stores in the building and an uncertain number of customers that might have been in the building, many of whom were able to escape before rescuers arrived. Most of the store lost electrical power due to damage caused by the collapse, which resulted in the main door locking and trapping several people inside the store, people had to break the glass to escape. The roof fell into the building, and also onto several cars parked outside the store.
  The firefighters, ambulances and police arrived at the scene within minutes. After the initial collapse, firefighters divided the building into four working areas. Although it had initially seemed that the remaining roof construction posed no further danger, at 19:04 another part of the roof collapsed over one of the previously designated work areas, trapping several firefighters, injuring twelve and killing three of them. By that time 20 people – most of those injured in the first collapse – had been rescued. The injured were transferred to the Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, the Riga East Clinical university hospital, the Riga Second hospital, and the Traumatology and Orthopedic hospital. One child was transferred to the Clinical University Hospital for children.
  Both before and after the second collapse, only firefighters were allowed to enter the building, and anyone inside was pulled out and brought to the ambulances parked just outside the store. After the second collapse, it was reported that only five firefighters were allowed to enter the building at a time, and that the rest were forced to wait outside because of the danger of further collapse. Each firefighter was allowed to spend only half an hour working. Bulldozers were used to clear the rubble. Mobile cranes were deployed at 21:27 to lift concrete slabs.
  According to a Latvian army tweet, 110 soldiers were on site on 21 November. Several tents were installed for the use of firefighters and ambulance workers by the military. Latvia was offered aid by several countries, however it was turned down as State and fire rescue service believed they already had 
caption: Rescuers gathered near the entrance of the store
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