Reform In Wake Of Roof Collapse

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Poland's prime minister said new federal regulations would allow authorities to close buildings whose roofs aren't cleared of snow, and investigators picked through twisted metal to determine why an exhibition hall's roof buckled.

Officials lowered the death toll from Saturday's collapse during a racing pigeon fair in southern Poland from 67 to 62, blaming the discrepancy on the confusion surrounding the accident.

Police and public prosecutors began gathering evidence to search for what caused the disaster. Experts collected snow samples from the roof to determine if it had been cleared regularly, as the building's owners claim it was.

"The site, clues and relevant documents are being secured," said Katowice police spokesman Grzegorz Wierzbiecki.

Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said after an emergency government meeting that his Cabinet discussed changes to rescue procedures and a tightening of building regulations to compel owners of large buildings to clear roofs of ice and snow.

"The changes in the law will be based on raising penalties, including the closure of buildings whose roofs are not cleared of ice or snow," he said.

The changes must be approved by parliament before taking effect. It was not immediately clear when that would happen.

Rescuers gave up hope of finding any more survivors. An estimated 500 people were inside the hall when it collapsed; about 160 people were injured.

Justice Minister Zbigniew Ziobro said prosecutors "have confirmed beyond a doubt that 62 people died" in the accident.

"I would like to believe there won't be any more, but I can't say at the moment," Ziobro said at a news conference.

In Katowice, two dogs trained to find corpses in rubble searched the site again Monday, but did not find any bodies under the wreckage. Police said only five people were still on the missing list, but it was unclear if they were actually at the fair.

Polish authorities said 59 victims had been identified by Monday afternoon. Officials have said they include at least seven foreigners - two Slovaks, two Czechs and one victim each from the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany.

The latest victim was a 34-year-old man who died in the hospital Monday from his injuries, regional government spokesman Krzysztof Mejer said.

Initial reports indicated that snow caused the roof to collapse. Transport Minister Jerzy Polacek said there was more than 1 feet of icy snow on the roof Saturday.

But the president of the Katowice company that organized the fair, Bruce Robinson, said "the reasons are not clear'' and that the firm was working with authorities to help determine the cause.

Grzegorz Slyszyk, a lawyer for the building's owners, said snow had been cleared regularly from the roof. He said they had heard from a Belgian witness that the floor collapsed before the roof did - raising the possibility the building sunk into a weak or hollow area that opened up beneath the building.

Other potential causes include whether faulty building materials were used when the hall was constructed in 2000, and how the materials reacted to the bitterly cold temperatures outside and the heated interior, Slyszyk added.

President Lech Kaczynski has described the incident as the ``greatest tragedy'' to hit post-communist Poland and declared a national period of mourning until Wednesday.

The leaders of France and Germany, where 15 people were killed when a skating rink collapsed in a similar accident Jan. 2, were among those who offered their condolences.

Source: AP

Jan.31.2006



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