Ten-Second Collapse: Novosibirsk Mall Disaster and Owner Probe

On the afternoon of January 21, the second floor of a shopping center collapsed on Naumova Street in the Pervomaysky District of Novosibirsk. Several people were trapped under the rubble, one ultimately died. A hundred rescuers and dozens of pieces of equipment worked on site — employees of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations (MChS) managed to pull people out from under the rubble. What eyewitnesses say, who owns the building, and what questions arise about how the structure appeared in this place — in this NGS report.

Collapse

The shopping center building at 26 Naumova Street in the Pervomaysky District collapsed around 4:00 p.m. on January 21. The first footage from the scene was published on social media. Eyewitness recordings showed the second floor of the structure completely collapsing.

An NGS reader sent the editorial office video of how the collapse occurred: the roof caved in the center — presumably, it couldn«t bear the weight of accumulated snow.

Rescuers arrived on the scene. According to the Main Directorate of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations for Novosibirsk Region, by evening, at least a hundred personnel and 33 pieces of equipment were working on Naumova Street. Later, a crane was brought in to lift the roof.

MChS employees concentrated their main efforts on the collapsed roof: people remained under the rubble there. At 5:35 p.m., the department reported rescuing the first victim. The woman was extracted and handed over to doctors. At 6:08 p.m., MChS reported a second rescued woman — she was also hospitalized. A man remained under the rubble at that time. He was extracted around 7:40 p.m.

The Investigative Committee opened a criminal case for providing services that do not meet safety requirements for life and health of consumers (Article 238 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The prosecutor«s office also organized an inspection, and the mayor of Novosibirsk ordered an examination of building roofs.

In total, at least five people were injured, three of whom were pulled out from under the rubble by rescuers. One person died.

«Crossing Through the Rubble»

As eyewitnesses say, the collapse happened instantly. A local resident, Herman, told an NGS correspondent that he was buying groceries at that moment. He was in «Yarche» and calmly exited. He went to move his car, which was in the parking lot.

«I parked a bit further away. It was probably the only one not damaged. The parking lot was completely full. About ten cars were damaged. Everything was in debris,» Herman said.

According to Herman, he entered the store half a minute before the incident. Everything happened very quickly, the eyewitness recalls. There was no panic around.

«A crash was heard from above. At first it was just unclear, and then something started falling from the roof. I thought snow was sliding off the roof, and then I saw pieces of the facade — all of it was falling on the car. Shop windows broke, it was visible that clothes were falling from above. We stepped aside a bit from the glass. Everything lasted about ten seconds, and then it got quiet. We started slowly exiting, already crossing through the rubble,» Herman said.

Polina, an employee of a flower shop nearby, said she was assembling a composition, turned around, and saw the destroyed building.

«An acquaintance from »Yarche« said she was serving at the checkout, heard glass breaking, and everyone was evacuated. From the second floor, she saw a girl being extracted. She is alive,» the girl said.

Some eyewitnesses miraculously didn«t manage to enter the building before the collapse. Siberian woman Olga wanted to go into »Yarche« to buy groceries. She was about to cross the road when the building collapsed.

«Many people remained there. They carried out a seller who was sitting on the corner. He was taken to a resuscitation vehicle,» Olga shared.

Who Owns the Building?

As NGS found out, a car wash previously stood on the site of the shopping center on Naumova. Later, another floor was added to it. In city hall documents found by NGS, it is indicated that the building was constructed in a residential area, among permitted uses — shops. In 2014, the plot was empty; in 2015, construction began, but not of a shopping center, but of a car wash.

The owner of the plot in the documents is listed as a certain Sergei T. As follows from the decision, he built the car wash, after which he tried to obtain the corresponding permitted use of the land plot.

In 2016, the city hall refused Sergei T., citing violations of SanPiN requirements. Moreover, the placement of the capital construction object does not comply with the general plan. The owner also tried to reduce setbacks from Naumova and Odoyevsky Streets.

In 2017, a second floor was added to the car wash, designating the building as a shopping center.

Today, according to Rusprofile, in Novosibirsk there is one businessman with fully matching initials — Sergei Turkov. Since 2009, he has owned three companies with a total turnover of 57 million rubles ($570,000 at current rates) and revenue of 1.4 million in 2024 ($14,000 at current rates). One of the organizations (Vysoky LLC) is engaged in ore and precious metal mining, and the other two (both called MS-Group LLC) — installation and finishing work.

In a conversation with an NGS correspondent, Sergei Turkov first stated that he is not the owner of the building. However, in the contacts of other people, according to GetContact data, he is listed as the owner of the building on Naumova Street.

A bit later, the journalist called Sergei again, to which he replied: «I»m here trying to provide at least some help, and you [are interfering].«

What«s Wrong with the Building?

MS-Group LLC, among other things, is engaged in security system maintenance, as well as construction and engineering services — the organization has executed dozens of government contracts worth 75 million rubles ($750,000 at current rates). Among them are orders for repairs (including major) in many state buildings in different regions of the country from 2013 to 2022.

The Novosibirsk city hall confirmed that Sergei Turkov is the owner of the building. According to the administration, it is an unauthorized construction. In 2017, the architectural and construction inspection department appealed to law enforcement agencies with a demand to initiate a case, but was refused. In the same year, the developer tried to legalize the construction.

«The application was formal, as it was submitted without the necessary documents. He was denied issuance of permission to put the object into operation. Including with information about the establishment of the fact of unauthorized construction,» said the city hall press center.

In 2018, the Pervomaysky District Court sided with Sergei Turkov and recognized his ownership rights to the construction.

«Responsibility for the safety and maintenance of the building lies with the owner,» the city hall noted.

More video from the scene of the shopping center collapse — in our photo report.