MOSCOW -- The collapse of the portico of the main post office in the Ukrainian city of Kiev killed 11 people and seriously injured two others, the offficial Tass news agency said Thursday.
'It is believed that the accident was due to violations of engineering standards during the portal's construction, maintenance and repair,' Tass said.
It said that former paratroopers who were holding a reunion nearby on Kiev's main Kreschatik street helped pull survivors from the rubble.
'Columns supporting the main portal of Kiev's main post office collapsed Wednesday afternoon, killing 11 people and gravely injuring two,' Tass said.
The post office was built in 1953 with bricks taken from the rubble of houses leveled during World War II battles in the Ukrainian capital, Tass said.
The multi-storied post office has been undergoing repairs for the last 18 months, including replacing the facing of four of the portal columns, the news agency said.
The Vremya television news show said recent torrential rains had further undermined the dilapidated supports of the portico.
The television news program showed footage of firefighters and local residents pulling bodies from the rubble on the main square of Kiev, the country's third-largest city with a population of 2.5 million.
Vremya said people entering the post office and pedestrians were buried beneath the rubble.
