The Zolitūde Supermarket Collapse and the Retrial Still Pending

A supermarket roof failed during evening shopping

The first collapse struck the Maxima store in Zolitūde on the evening of 21 November 2013. Emergency crews entered the damaged building; another section then fell during the rescue. The disaster became Latvia's deadliest event since the restoration of independence.

This archive treats the collapse as a criminal-accountability case because prosecutors alleged breaches of building and workplace-safety duties that caused multiple deaths. It does not equate every regulatory, political or moral criticism with a criminal conviction.

Fifty-four lives lost

Fifty-four people died, including three firefighters responding to the first collapse. Dozens of other people were injured, and hundreds were formally recognized as victims in the criminal proceeding. The page avoids graphic detail and does not reduce the victims to a numerical device; the count explains the human scale of the case.

A vast technical investigation

The criminal file examined structural calculations, roof trusses, construction documents, design review, supervision and safety practices. Nine people ultimately stood trial, including building engineer Ivars Sergets and professionals or officials connected with design, construction oversight, municipal approval and workplace safety.

The evidence record became exceptionally large: the Supreme Court later described 137 volumes and cassation submissions from the prosecutor, the convicted engineer and numerous victims or representatives.

One conviction and eight acquittals

On 18 February 2020, the Riga City Pārdaugava Court convicted Sergets and sentenced him to six years' imprisonment, a five-year professional ban and substantial compensation obligations. Eight other defendants were acquitted.

The Riga Regional Court's appellate judgment of 24 January 2023 continued to treat Sergets as the only convicted defendant and increased the custodial term to six years and six months. The court said the professional duty to identify the disproportionate structural load rested on him under the legal framework then in force.

The Supreme Court rejected a simple final ending

The prosecutor, Sergets and victims challenged parts of the appellate judgment. On 17 December 2024, the Supreme Court accepted some of the prosecutor's and victims' arguments. It overturned the appealed judgment in part regarding Sergets's conviction because circumstances had been removed from the accusation without adequate reasoning and because the appellate court needed to examine the professional-duty framework more fully.

The Supreme Court sent that portion back to the Riga Regional Court. This was neither a complete acquittal nor a final confirmation of the earlier conviction. It was a remand requiring a new appellate examination.

Proceedings remained active in the latest located update

An August 2026 LSM report on the opening of the memorial garden stated that the criminal case had returned to the Riga Regional Court in autumn 2025. No later final judgment meeting this archive's source standard was located during this review.

The case is therefore classified as unresolved on remand. Sergets is described as previously convicted in the lower courts, with part of the conviction overturned for renewed review; the eight other defendants remain described according to their acquittals unless a court changes that status.

Timeline

1. 21 November 2013 — The Maxima supermarket roof collapses in Zolitūde; 54 people die.
2. December 2015 — The major criminal trial begins.
3. 18 February 2020 — Sergets is convicted; eight defendants are acquitted.
4. 24 January 2023 — The Riga Regional Court maintains the core result and sets a 6½-year sentence.
5. 27 December 2023 — The Supreme Court opens cassation proceedings.
6. 17 December 2024 — Part of the conviction is overturned and remanded.
7. Autumn 2025 — The case returns to the Riga Regional Court for renewed review.
8. 31 August 2026 — The latest located reliable update still describes the remanded proceeding.