RUSSIA: One man is killed and at least nine injured as supermarket roof collapses under heavy snow in St. Petersburg

Record ID: 216145

  • Title: RUSSIA: One man is killed and at least nine injured as supermarket roof collapses under heavy snow in St. Petersburg
  • Date: 27th January 2011
  • Summary: ST PETERSBURG, RUSSIA (JANUARY 25, 2011) (REUTERS) FIRE TRUCKS IN STREET NEAR MALL POLICE GUARDING AREA OF ACCIDENT OUTSIDE MALL TOW TRUCK REMOVING CAR FROM AREA NEAR SUPERMARKET 'O'KEY' SUPERMARKET SIGN POLICE AND EMERGENCY WORKERS AT ENTRANCE TO SUPERMARKET SUPERMARKET COMPOUND WITH EMERGENCY VEHICLES PARKED NEAR ENTRANCE EMERGENCY VEHICLES PARKED NEAR SUPERMARKET
  • Embargoed: 11th February 2011 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Russian Federation
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVANLFN8012LAUAJIRJIWV88W4U
  • Story Text: One man was killed when the roof of a Russian supermarket collapsed under heavy snow in St. Petersburg on Tuesday (January 25), injuring another nine people and possibly trapping more under the rubble.
    Emergency services worked in blizzard conditions to sift through debris after 500 hundred square metres of roof caved in at a branch of Russia's third-largest food retailer, O'Key.
    Nine people were hospitalised and emergency workers checked for others possibly trapped by the collapse. Officials said more people could be trapped in the rubble almost three hours after the accident at 20:35 p.m.local time (1735GMT).
    St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matvienko visited the scene of the accident and promised a thorough investigation, though she dismissed the idea that the collapse was due to heavy snow collected on the roof.
    "Nobody expected that something like this could happen, especially as the snow is being cleared. If the snow wasn't being cleared it could have collapsed under the weight of snow, but the snow was being cleared so we need to look further into why it happened, so until there has been an investigation it's too early to draw any conclusions," Matvienko told reporters at the scene.
    Snow on roofs during winter is a lethal problem in Russia, where falling ice sheets kill and injure hundreds of people each year. In 2006 at least 56 people were killed when the snow-laden roof of Moscow's Basmanny food market collapsed.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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