Prosecutors on Monday confiscated documents from firms involved in the construction of a vast Moscow water park left in ruins after the roof collapsed, a disaster that threw a spotlight on the graft said to be rife in the city's construction business.
Twenty-five people were confirmed dead in the accident, which occurred Saturday night. Moscow city prosecutor Vladimir Yudin said four or five people remained unaccounted for. Initially, officials had given a higher figure, but later said that some of those reported missing had been located.
President Vladimir Putin offered his condolences to the victims, saying "the culprits must be punished," while Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Yakovlev called for tougher punishment for those convicted of negligence in construction. Currently, the maximum sentence is five years in prison.
Prosecutors, who have opened a criminal investigation into negligence leading to the deaths, confiscated documents from the architecture and construction companies Monday and collected roof debris for analysis.
A government panel investigating the collapse said it would be ready to issue its preliminary findings by the end of the week.
"Their main task is to look at the foundation, the analysis of the ground conditions, and the design decisions taken ... the quality of metal and concrete used," said Nikolai Koshman, the chief of the government agency in charge of construction.
Experts said that corrosion and insufficient ventilation could have weakened the concrete-and-glass structure and made it more vulnerable. The chlorine vapors and temperature difference "influence the speed at which metal fatigue develops," Valery Goreglyad, a specialist on water parks, was quoted as telling the Izvestia newspaper. With an indoor temperature of 30?C and an outdoor temperature of -15?C, the difference was significant enough to reach a "critical" point for metal, he said.
But Russian media and some experts said that widespread neglect of safety norms and official corruption might have contributed to the disaster.
"On practically any construction site in the capital a system of mass corruption is flourishing -- from receiving licenses to the substitution of one brand of concrete for another cheaper brand or simply for sand," Alexei Klimenko, an adviser to the Moscow mayor, was quoted as telling the Kommersant newspaper.
"The system has collapsed," echoed the daily Vremya Novostei, which alleged that the accident had resulted from cronyism, graft and thefts in the city's construction business.
Yakovlev, the deputy prime minister responsible for construction, pointed to the possibility of negligence.
"A lot is being said now about how Moscow's high-rise buildings have been built in the wrong places or are of poor quality. All the facts need to be double-checked to prevent future negligence -- to put it mildly -- leading to the death of people," Yakovlev said during his meeting with key officials.
Meanwhile, rescuers continued the search for bodies in the rubble, while passers-by laid flowers and a small icon in the snow at the site.
The licenses of the Turkish company that built the park, Kocak Insaat, and the Russian architectural firm that designed it, Sergei Kiselyov and Partners, were suspended pending the probe, Koshman said.
Kiselyov and Partners said on Monday that another firm had designed the building's cupola, which collapsed. Turkish newspapers quoted Ismail Kocak, the Turkish company's owner, as denying responsibility and allegations that low-quality materials were used in construction.
The complex, which opened in 2002, was built in 18 months. It is one of several flashy facilities that have opened in recent years in Moscow, which has seen a major construction boom as the nation's oil-fueled economy has grown following the 1998 financial crisis.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
SUPPORT: The Australian prime minister promised to back Kyiv against Russia’s invasion, saying: ‘That’s my government’s position. It was yesterday. It still is’ Left-leaning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese yesterday basked in his landslide election win, promising a “disciplined, orderly” government to confront cost-of-living pain and tariff turmoil. People clapped as the 62-year-old and his fiancee, Jodie Haydon, who visited his old inner Sydney haunt, Cafe Italia, surrounded by a crowd of jostling photographers and journalists. Albanese’s Labor Party is on course to win at least 83 seats in the 150-member parliament, partial results showed. Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s conservative Liberal-National coalition had just 38 seats, and other parties 12. Another 17 seats were still in doubt. “We will be a disciplined, orderly
RSS