Latvian prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis resigned today after a supermarket collapsed killing 54 people in November. A spokesperson said the government took “political responsibility” for the tragedy.
Latvian president Andris Berzins has appealed for foreign construction consultants to help in investigating why the building collapsed.
For more international stories visit the CIOB’s global construction website GCR
A garden and children’s playground were under construction on the supermarket’s roof when the disaster happened.
Berzins told state broadcaster LTV: “While not undermining the professionalism of our builders, I believe that we should call upon international expertise which is in no way connected with our construction business.”
A view of the collapsed Maxima supermarket on November 22, 2013 in Riga, Latvia (Dmitrijs Lazarenko/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
The prime minister’s resignation means that his center-right government automatically falls.
Police are investigating the cause of the disaster, with possible explanations including flawed design, substandard construction materials, and corruption.
