Supermarket collapse takes at least 25 lives in Riga - UPDATE - PHOTOS - VIDEO

At least 25 people were killed and more than 30 injured when the roof of a supermarket collapsed in the Latvian capital Riga, police in the Baltic country said Friday.

Three fireman were among the dead. Several people were likely still trapped under the rubble and a spokesman for the rescue workers said that the number of missing was unclear, dpa reported.

Interior Minister Rihards Kozlovskis said it was "a tragic and black day" in the history of Latvia.

The roof of the Maxima supermarket collapsed Thursday evening over an area of 500 square metres, when dozens of shoppers were in the building.

On Friday, rescue teams, including dozens of soldiers, were searching for survivors. Hospitals have called for more blood donations.

Witnesses said that they heard an alarm before the roof caved in. Police are investigating the operator of the supermarket, for failure to react to warnings.

Latvian media reported that the roof had been undergoing reconstruction. The building was only completed in 2011.

/Trend/

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11:02
The collapse of a supermarket in Riga, the Latvian capital, has killed at least 18 people, with rescue workers continuing the search the rubble through the night for casualties.

The search and rescue effort continued through Thursday night and into Friday morning at the Maxima store, which had been busy with shoppers on their way home from work when the roof fell in on Thursday evening.

Fire trucks and ambulances surrounded the store, with rescue workers using mechanical cutters to clear debris from the single-storey concrete and glass building.

"Another dead body has just been brought out," Latvian rescue services said on their Twitter feed as the latest of the victims' remains were retrieved.

Rescue workers were caught up in a second collapse after they arrived at the store, situated in the midst of Soviet-era housing in a suburb of the capital. Seven of the injured and three of the dead were firefighters.

It was unclear how many people remained trapped. The News agency RIA Novosti quoted the Riga mayor, Nils Usakovs, as saying 70 people were still in the building.

Rescue services said 36 injured people had been rescued and police sniffer dogs were searching for any still trapped.

More than 60 soldiers were helping with the rescue effort, the army said. Latvian TV said three cranes were working to remove concrete blocks from the roof so rescuers could get inside but firefighters feared another collapse.

The prime pinister, Valdis Dombrovskis, told Latvian TV the rescue work would probably go on for many hours.

Local media said workers had been building a roof garden on the store. Police were launching an investigation. "It is clear that there has been a problem with fulfillment of construction requirements," the interior minister, Rihards Kozlovskis, told Latvian TV by telephone.

Local media reported that the Maxima supermarket, about 500 square metres in area, had been awarded an architecture prize when it was completed in 2011.

/The Guardian/