RUSSIA: Forty-nine people died when the snow-laden roof of a huge indoor market in Moscow collapsed early yesterday, trapping dozens of people under tonnes of rubble.
Amid the snow and sub-zero temperatures rescuers scrambled through the debris of the Basmany market in Moscow's Bauman district. Some survivors guided rescuers to pockets under the rubble by using the sound of their mobile phones.
Moscow authorities ruled out a terrorist bomb and said heavy snow that fell the night before was the most likely reason for the collapse, which happened without warning at 5.45 am.
The disaster comes two years after a similar collapse of a Moscow swimming pool roof at Transvaal Water Park and raises questions about building standards in Russia. This collapse came just as traders were setting up their stalls for the day ahead, a national holiday. Survivors said they heard a sound "like a cannon" and the roof collapsed on top of them.
"My three sisters are dead and also the man working with me," said survivor Oktay Salmanov.
More than 30 injured people were taken to hospital and authorities say they expect the death toll to climb through the night as more rubble is cleared.
Dramatic scenes unfolded at the rescue site, where some workers used their bare hands to dig through rubble. Heavy cranes could not be parked at the site and nearby rail tracks had to be cut to allow them access. Every few minutes rescuers shouted for silence and for machinery to be stopped as they strained to listen for noise through the rubble.
Some survivors phoned relatives on their mobile phones to guide rescuers to the spot where they were trapped.
One man still trapped in the rubble was being kept sedated with painkillers fed through an intravenous drip inserted into a crack in the masonry. To combat the freezing conditions, rescue workers used heat guns to blast hot air under the rubble to stop survivors from freezing to death.
But rescue teams faced agonising choices about whether to deploy heavy lifting gear and jackhammers, fearing they might trigger fresh collapses that could kill those trapped below.
Emergency situations minister Sergei Shoigu said people who were trapped had been knocking and crying out for help.
Moscow prosecutors said a criminal investigation was being launched to find out if either bad design or poor construction contributed to the collapse. The market was built in the 1970s, in the time of the Soviet Union, but prosecutors will want to ask if the operators had tested and maintained the structure. Moscow is experiencing a construction boom and building inspectors are swamped with work.
The latest incident follows other roof collapses elsewhere in Europe. Sixty-six people died in Katowice in Poland last month when the roof of a trade hall collapsed. At least 11 people died when the roof of an ice rink in Bad Reichenhall in Germany fell in on January 2nd.
More than 5cm (2in) of snow fell on Moscow the night before last, adding hundreds of tonnes of pressure to a roof already laden with 45cm ( 18in) of winter snow. However the market had also seen extra kiosks added to upper levels, possibly putting a strain on the support columns of the nearly 2,000 sq m (21,000 sq ft) structure.