In Tbilisi, three persons charged in case of metro station collapse

The director of the company which developed a repair project for the "Varketili" metro station in Tbilisi and two employees of the construction company are accused of failure to perform works of required quality, which led to a collapse of the ceiling at the metro station.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on January 30, a part of the ceiling collapsed at the Tbilisi "Varketili" metro station, and as a result, 14 people were injured.

In October 2015, the "Geomepi" Company won a tender for repair of the "Varketili" metro station. Investigators suggest that for mercenary reasons, the company director submitted a project, designed with a violation of safety standards. The project was undertaken by the "Kvarelremmsheni" Company, which also won a relevant tender.

The responsibility of the "Geomepi" Company was to check after the repair the reliability of the ceiling fasteners in the lower vestibule of the "Varketili" metro station. "On April 19, 2017, the director of the 'Geomepi' Company submitted to the construction service of the Tbilisi transport company a fake conclusion about the state of the construction," reports the General Prosecutor's Office. The director of the "Geomepi" Company is charged under three Articles of the Criminal Code: negligence, forgery of documents, and poor performance of works.

The investigators suggest that a manager and an engineer of the "Kvarelremmsheni" Company also failed to fulfil their direct duties. Both are accused of poor performance of works, and the manager is also charged with negligence. Each of the three defendants faces up to five years of imprisonment, the "News-Georgia" reported on June 22 with reference to the Chief Prosecutor's Office.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 23, 2018 at 08:36 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.