Another Baku building evacuated

The ad hoc state commission on emergencies decided Saturday to evacuate a multi-storeyed apartment building on 14 Ahmad Javad street, after the roof of the building had collapsed causing serious cracks.

The commission said it was dangerous to stay inside and forbade people to salvage their belongings. Gas and electricity supply to the building have been cut off.

As of December 15, there were a total of 157 evacuated buildings in Baku. The commission says the four-storeyed building on 19 Azerbaijan avenue that fell apart Friday morning caused a serous damage to an adjacent two-storeyed apartment building, which has also been evacuated.

According to the Mayor’s office spokesman for registration of historical blocks Fazil Mammadov, 80% of more-than-century-old buildings are in a critical condition. They can collapse due to the top floors illegally built while the building was already inhabited.

As for the idea that the structure collapsed because of the underground, Mr. Mammadov brushed it off, saying a subway line was far away from the site.*