Shelves Collapse in São Luís Supermarket: One Dead and Eight Injured

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A shelf collapse at the Mix Mateus Atacarejo supermarket on Friday evening in the city of São Luís, Maranhão state, killed one person and left eight injured, according to the Fire Department. Product shelves collapsed and struck customers.

Videos released on social media showed metal structures crashing into a kind of domino effect (see picture). At the time of the accident, the supermarket was busy. There are yet no reports on the cause of the accident.

The fatal victim was identified as Elane de Oliveira Rodrigues, who worked at the supermarket. She was 21 years old and from Pará. The six injured were referred to hospitals by the Fire Department and the Mobile Emergency Services (SAMU). The other two people injured were rescued at the scene.

The fire department completed their search on Saturday morning. According to the fire department, the rescue operation at the supermarket took over 11 hours and involved 14 vehicles, 144 military firemen and 131 civilian firemen, as well as ambulances and vehicles from other authorities.

Civil Inquiry

On Saturday morning, the Labor Prosecutor’s Office in Maranhão (MPT-MA) reported that it will open an inquiry to determine the causes of the accident. In a note, the office states that “it will strive for strict compliance with occupational health and safety standards in order to prevent further accidents”.

“The MPT-MA expresses its sympathy with the relatives and friends of the victims and reinforces its commitment to act in defense of labor rights and in ensuring a safe and healthy work environment,” the statement says.

The company apologzes

After the accident, Grupo Mateus, a company that includes Mix Mateus Atacarejo supermarket, released a note stating that employees accompanied the rescue efforts and that the company provided assistance and should cooperate with the authorities.

The note adds that, due to the accident, all the Mateus Group stores in São Luís will not operate on Saturday.

Maranhão Fire Department Note

“The Maranhão Military Fire Department (CBMMA) reports that one fatal victim and eight people with minor injuries were confirmed in the accident at Mateus da Curva do 90 supermarket, in São Luís. Six injured people were rushed to hospitals by the CBMMA/SAMU teams; and two others went by their own means. The firemen, the Public Security forces, the Health Secretariat, the Government Military Office and the Human Rights Secretariat mobilized their personnel to locate and rescue the victims, as well as provide assistance to relatives.

At 8:15 PM on Friday, the Fire Department was deployed to intervene in the supermarket occurrence, where five shelves on the premises crashed down with all the products while people were present. The CBMMA planned and executed the operation involving 14 firefighters’ vehicles, as well as ambulances and vehicles from other authorities, 144 military firefighters and 131 civilian firefighters.

For over 11 hours of operation, searches were made with the intervention of the State Police, Civil Police, Health Secretariat, SAMU and the Military Office of the Executive Branch. The Incident Command System was set up, where all measures inherent to the occurrence were systematically executed. The State Health Secretariat (SES) reports that, of the eight people injured, three were assisted by the UPA do Vinhais multiprofessional team, with abrasions and minor injuries. After treatment and with a stable clinical picture, the patients were discharged from hospital early this morning”.

Source: G1