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Architect sentenced to 9 years over 2006 building disaster

PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek 21.09.2017 14:22
A Polish architect has lost an appeal and been sentenced to nine years in jail over the 2006 collapse of a roof on an exhibition centre which killed 65 people.
MTK after the roof collapsed in January in 2006. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel MTK after the roof collapsed in January in 2006. Photo: PAP/Andrzej Grygiel

Jacek J. (name withheld due to Polish privacy laws), the architect who drew up Katowice International Fair (MTK) construction plans, had been charged with “intentionally causing a disaster”.

Experts said Jacek J.'s plans were "significantly different" to the building’s architectural designs and a court found that the disaster was the result of the architect’s “neglect, sloppiness, and disregard of laws,” the PAP news agency reported.

Meanwhile, a New Zealander identified only as Bruce R., a former member of the board of the MTK company, was acquitted after previously being sentenced to three years.

Another former board member, named as Ryszard Z., accused of being aware of potential danger but not acting to avert it, had his sentence halved to two years.

The company’s technical director was sentenced to 18 months and two construction experts were sentenced to two years in jail each, while three builders who worked on MTK were acquitted.

The roof of the Katowice International Fair exhibition hall in Katowice, in Poland’s south, fell in under the weight of snow and ice during an international event for pigeon fanciers.

Sixty-five people were killed and over 140 injured, 26 of them seriously. (vb/pk)

Source: PAP

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