Four people died in a building collapse
By Tea Mariamidze
Tuesday, July 7
The sudden collapse of a building claimed the lives of 4 construction workers on 13 Apakidze street, Tbilisi.
According to the witnesses, when the building collapsed three workers were killed on the spot and one of them died later in hospital, as his health condition was critical from the beginning.
The reconstructive works of an old building of computing mathematics on 13 Apakidze street was being carried out by the Tiflis Business Group, which was going to locate business centers and a hotel in the building.
The head of the press service of Tiflis Business Group, Nikoloz Baratashvili, stated that the identity of the deceased is now known, but they cannot reveal it for the families of the dead have not been informed yet.
Baratashvili said that this case was an accident and the workers were working on reconstruction, not dismantling.
According to him, the reason of the collapse was the crumble of the ceiling, which was old and the workers were trying to remove it and cover it with glass.
“We have the expertise results, all the documents are in order and safety standards were fully protected; it was an accident,” he said.
The family members and relatives of the people working on the spot came at the scene and were trying to find out the identity of the dead.
According to one person, her relative, 10th grader boy was also working on the spot and she is unable to contact him.
Vice Mayor of Tbilisi, Dimitri Kumsishvili arrived at the scene and expressed his concern about the death of the workers.
“It is a very tragic case, which will be investigated very quickly; all those who are guilty will be punished” he said.
The Head of Architecture Department, Nino Ghoghoberidze said, that the project had the full documentation and conclusions, which clearly states that the reconstruction of the building would not cause any damages.
She said that the report, which was submitted to the Department of Architecture by Tiflis Business Group, is being studied by the relevant services.
According to her the building permit for the reconstruction was issued in August 2014.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that an investigation concerning the case has been launched under the article 240 of the Criminal Code, which envisages mining, construction or other means of security rules violation.
