Roof Overhang Collapse in Tbilisi Kills Two, Sparks City Hall Backlash
A roof overhang collapsed from a five-story residential building onto an outdoor market near Tbilisi’s central Station Square on the evening of July 14, killing two, a man and a woman, and injuring another person, who was hospitalized. The falling concrete also crushed several parked vehicles on the sidewalk.
The Interior Ministry has launched a criminal investigation into an alleged breach of construction safety regulations leading to deaths, charges punishable by up to two years of house arrest or two to five years in prison.
Emergency crews, including firefighters and police, carried out search-and-rescue operations for five hours, continuing until midnight. Some residents of the building were relocated to hotels.
Locals say the building had long shown clear signs of structural weakness. A video footage circulated on social media shows visible damage and rooftop gaps dating back more than a year, fueling backlash against the Tbilisi City Hall.
“This tragic incident is not just a personal tragedy, but part of the systemic problem that is structurally unsound buildings in our capital, for which full responsibility lies with City Hall,” wrote Georgia’s fifth president, Salome Zurabishvili, on Facebook.
Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze, who visited the scene along with Georgian Dream Interior Minister Geka Geladze, acknowledged the building’s unsafe condition but cited the city’s unsuccessful efforts to reach an agreement with all residents to demolish and rebuild it.
“The offer was made to participate in the replacement program, under which the block would be demolished and a new one constructed,” Kakha Kaladze told the journalists, adding, “But for this to proceed, 100 percent consent from residents is required, which unfortunately has not been achieved.”
Critics, however, dismissed this as an insufficient excuse, noting that the victims were shoppers and passersby whose safety should have been ensured regardless of the building’s ownership.
“Just a warning, just a small wooden barrier would have prevented this tragedy,” wrote Maia Kobaidze on social media. Her aunt, a vendor, was one of two people who died in the collapse.
Also Read:
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