Market Rooftop Collapses in Moscow

Emergency Situations Minister Sergei Shoigu reported that the roof of a Moscow market came tumbling down early Thursday, killing at least 21 people and trapping 10 just when Russia was celebrating Defenders of the Fatherland Day holiday. Those were heard to be knocking and crying to be let outside.

Rescue teams with pickaxes were called at the site of the crash, in order to cut holes and call the people through them to see if there are any survivors. Then they turned off their electric generators in order to listen for any cries for help. Five hours after the collapse and only one survivor, the reports tell.

Deputy Head of the Moscow department of the Emergency Situations Ministry, Yuri Akimov, declared that people still alive were communicating through mobile phones to help rescue workers hear and find them with sniffer dogs.

Akimov added, in a interview to Channel One Television, that it is not possible to use heavy equipment to look through the wreckage because people living are still down there. Investigators are faced with three potential causes of the roof collapse: the fact that the 30 year old building was not taken care of properly, the buildup of heavy snow and corrosion or failures in the initial design of the building.

Russian media reports that the entire roof of the 2,400 yards market, built in the 1970s by Nodar Kancheli, came down over the stalls and most of the victims were municipal and market workers.