54 people were killed and dozens injured when the ceiling of the Maxima supermarket in Zolitūde collapsed. It was the biggest tragedy in Latvia since the restoration of independence. The victims of the Zolitūde tragedy have appealed in cassation to the Senate of the Supreme Court against the verdicts finding only one person guilty.
Flowers will be laid at the site on Thursday afternoon in memory of the victims, but President Edgars Rinkēvičs made an early-morning visit to pay his repsects.
Zolitūde. 21.11.24. pic.twitter.com/gtrOyuFmBg
— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) November 21, 2024
The association of victims of the tragedy "Zolitūde 21.11." will not hold a special event, but all those whose relatives or friends were affected by the tragedy will remember their loved ones at the temporary memorial in Zolitūde, Regīna Ločmele (Harmony), the head of the society, told Latvian Radio. Ločmele called for a commemoration of the victims at around 17:30 - the time when the shop collapsed 11 years ago.
Ločmele also said that the construction of a permanent memorial could at best start next spring.
Meanwhile, the victims of the Zolitūde tragedy have appealed in cassation to the Senate of the Supreme Court against the judgments of the district and regional courts, which found only one person guilty - Ivars Sergets, the store's structural engineer. The victims have just received information that the case will be heard by the Senate of the Supreme Court on December 16 this year in a written procedure without the participation of the parties.
"We have been waiting a year for the announcement that the hearing of this case will start. If the Supreme Court upholds the verdict of the previous instances, then the victims will stand by their word - we will definitely file a civil lawsuit against the state, which in 2013 maintained a system of building control, fire safety regulations that allowed this huge tragedy to happen, which took the souls of 54 innocent people," said Ločmele.
