DUSHANBE, February 27, Asia-Plus — Five Tajiks were killed and three other were injured when the snow-laden roof of the Basmanny market in Moscow, Muhammad Egamzod, a spokesman for the Tajik Embassy in Moscow, said.
According to him, one of those killed has been identified as the 14-year-old Husein Yodgorov. The four others have not yet been identified, according to him.
In the meantime, the three hospitalized Tajiks are now in good condition, according to Tajik diplomat.
As it had been reported earlier, the tragedy occurred on February 23, at 05:50 a.m. Moscow time. The Basmanny market building near the Baumanskaya metro station fully collapsed. Aside from the roof its reinforced concrete structures also collapsed and the total area of the cave-in is 3,000 square meters.
All rescuer teams from all districts of Moscow were engaged in the search and rescue operation, including specialists from the Tsentrospas unit of the Emergency Situations Ministry.
The investigation is considering three main versions of the market building roof collapse, including violation of exploitation rules, improper fulfillment by the market administration of safety rules and errors in the building design. The Moscow Prosecutor’s Office instituted criminal proceedings over the accident under Article 109 of the Criminal Code (causing death through negligence) and Article 293 (negligent performance of duty).
According to Russian media, 66 people were killed and some 30 others were injured in the market roof collapse.