Police in Latvia say the death toll from the collapse of a crowded supermarket roof has risen to 52 and that the rescue operation has temporarily been halted.

Spokeswoman Sigita Pildava said on Saturday that only a small section of the store ruins remained but firefighters decided not to proceed given the risk of further collapse.

The roof fell on Thursday evening in the Latvian capital of Riga as customers were doing after-work shopping. At least 35 were injured in the incident and 28 remained hospitalised late on Friday.

An investigation into the Baltic state's deadliest accident ever has started and preliminary reports indicate that the supermarket roof caved in due to either faulty construction or building activities on the roof, where workers were creating a garden area and children's playground.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.