Latvia President Calls Supermarket Roof Collapse 'Murder'

Latvian President Andris Berzins has described the collapse of a supermarket in the capital Riga as "murder".

Commenting on the cave-in that claimed at least 52 lives, Berzins argued that the case had to be treated as murder of a large number of defenseless civillians.

He claimed that the case was not to be treated as an unfortunate accident because the deaths had not been caused by a natural disaster.

In a Saturday interview for public broadcaster LTV, Latvia's head of state emphasized that the case had to be investigated with maximum speed.

Berzins, as cited by ITAR-TASS and dnevnik.bg, suggested that it was necessary to change construction regulations in Latvia, as well as the political system in its entirety.

He pointed out that the way government functioned had to change, taking into account that it was plagued by irresponsibility on all levels.

Berzins emphasized the need to change the existing amorphous system where nobody was responsible for anything.

Latvians on Saturday began three days of official mourning for  the victims of Thursday's tragedy.

The cave-in occurred just before 6 pm on Thursday, at a time when the Maxima store was busy with customers.

About 20 minutes after the initial collapse, another part of the roof caved in, trapping rescue workers who were trying to reach survivors.

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