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Nine killed as building collapses in Georgia

AFP
Sunday, Oct 10, 2021

TBILISI: Nine people died after a block of flats partly collapsed in Georgia’s Black Sea resort of Batumi, the interior minister said on Saturday, with unsafe renovation work blamed for the accident.

Around five floors of the building collapsed on Friday, crushing several cars parked outside and leaving "up to 15 people" missing under the rubble, according to police.

"I want to express my condolences to the families of the deceased. A total of nine people died," Vakhtang Gomelauri said.

"Five minutes go we found a ninth person. It is believed that he was the last," Gomelauri said, adding that the rescue operation had been halted over fears of the rest of the building collapsing.