News

In Kemerovo Region, owner of shop detained under investigation in collapsed building in Mezhdurechensk

During the investigation into a crime under Part 1 of Article 216 of the RF Penal Code (breach of safety rules during construction operations) following the collapse of a section of a five-floor block of flats, the Kemerovo Region Office of the Investigative Committee has detained the owner of the non-residential space on the first floor of the said building.

The section of the house collapsed at about 5:20 PM 31 May 2016 in the town of Mezhdurechensk. In the first few hours three residents were taken to hospitals with different injuries. Dead bodies of a woman and a man were found later under debris. Their names are known, the bodies are being identified by relatives.

Presumably the cause of the collapse might have been the weakening of load-bearing walls. There was a shop on the first floor of the building which was being repaired. The shop’s owner was identified and detained. It is a 56-year-old sole proprietor and now he is being questioned. As was revealed the man had let the shop out to a large distribution network since 2012. The repairs had been organized by the owner and were carried out by workers. At the moment the investigators are checking what exactly the workers did.

An investigative team, including the most experienced investigators and criminalists of the local investigative authority are working at the scene. They are identifying and questioning the injured. Soon they are going to request for custodial restraint and to press charges of a crime under Part 3 of Article 216 of the RF Penal Code. The investigation is ongoing.

The Kemerovo Region administration has taken a number of measures to help the residents.