Police carry out investigation to investigate the causes of the collapse of shelves in a supermarket in Maranhão | National newspaper

The security camera recorded the moment when people noticed that the shelves were falling. Employees and customers rushed out, while, in a domino effect, shelves up to 10 meters high collapsed on top of each other. Five fell.

What was seen next was a pile of merchandise, twisted iron and the despair of those who were in the place. Then a broker tries to locate possible victims.

An employee took out a child who was among the goods scattered on the floor. And the injured were first cared for by market customers. The accident happened around 8 pm this Friday (2). Since the supermarket retails and wholesales, there were huge, heavy bales on the shelves.

Almost 300 firefighters worked on the 11-hour rescue operation for the victims, which was complicated after power was cut due to a short circuit.

Eight people were injured and taken to hospitals in the city. One remains hospitalized, without risk of dying. A woman who was in the supermarket at the time of the accident managed to escape: “It was the iron and something also fell on my ear, which hurts.” But the employee Elane de Oliveira Rodrigues, 19, did not have time to run and died on the spot.

Elane had been working at the supermarket for two months. The promoter of the session had recently been promoted. At the wake, the sadness of family and friends. A co-worker who was injured in the accident went to say goodbye to her friend as soon as she left the hospital.

Elane’s father, Adão Rodrigues, said he was preparing to enter university: “I wanted to do administration.”

This Saturday, the doors were opened only to receive the employees who were summoned to collect the merchandise and organize everything. The supermarket was closed to the public, as were the other 40 chain stores, which closed their doors in mourning.

Experts from the Institute of Criminalistics spent Saturday afternoon conducting a survey at the supermarket, which should help clarify what happened. The Labor Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation to determine if there was negligence.

The Mateus group, of which the Mix Mateus Atacarejo supermarket is a part, said it is collaborating with the authorities and committed to providing assistance to families affected by the collapse.