Riga Mayor Viesturs Kleinbergs promises that the fate of the house on Bauskas Street, which was damaged by a gas explosion, will be different from that of the building on Melnsila Street in Agenskalns, which remains half-destroyed and unrepaired since the gas explosion in 2020, writes LETA.
Both cases are similar – in both buildings, powerful gas explosions occurred in municipal apartments, partially destroying the structures. Residents of Melnsila Street are demanding that the Riga City Council restore the building to its former size and appearance as it was before the explosion; however, the council disagreed, and legal proceedings on this matter have been ongoing for several years.
Kleinbergs stated this morning in an interview with Latvian Radio that the municipality has calculated the cost of the services of a construction engineer, but the decision to pay for these services must be made by the homeowners' meeting at Bauskas, as the council does not have the right to pay for it alone.
Similarly, the decision regarding the repair of the house cannot be made unilaterally by the mayor of Riga; however, he promised that the situation at Bauskas would not be the same as at Melnsila. In any case, the mayor will initiate discussions and seek solutions, the city leader promised.
Kleinbergs noted that, overall, the apartment where the explosion occurred was not abandoned – the person was managing household affairs and was not relying on benefits. The politician acknowledged that municipal apartments are not insured.
As reported earlier, in the gas explosion in Torņakalns, in an apartment building on Bauskas Street, two people died – an individual who was illegally manipulating the gas pipe in one of the apartments and an employee of the gas supply company's Emergency Service "Gaso," who arrived in response to a call due to suspicions of a gas leak. Two more people were injured.
The explosion in the five-story residential building occurred due to intentional damage to the gas pipe. As a result, the fourth and fifth floors of the building, as well as the roof, partially collapsed.
The house is managed by SIA "Latvijas namsaimnieks," which has 74 apartments, four of which belong to the municipality. According to currently unconfirmed official information, the explosion occurred due to illegal gas connections in the apartment owned by the municipality.
After the explosion, the house was designated as emergency status, and its operation is prohibited. The Department of Urban Development instructed the building's owners to immediately engage a certified construction specialist and conduct a technical inspection of the building. This is necessary to determine the extent of the damage, conditions for partial operation, and possible recovery scenarios.
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