Second Russian hospital fire kills nine
By Gary James,WNS Russia Bureau Chief
MOSCOW - Up to nine people have been killed in a fire in a clinic in Siberia, Russia's second lethal hospital blaze of the weekend, Russian news agencies reported. The fire killed nine and injured 15 more, local emergency ministry officials said as quoted by ITAR-TASS. "The fire started in the psycho-neurological clinic in the town of Taiga" in the southern region of Kemerovo, an emergency ministry spokesman was quoted by Interfax as saying. First preliminary results put the toll at eight, though the region's governor Aman Tuleyev later said that the fire killed seven and injured 11. Of the total 223 patients that were at the site, "search is still on for 10.
Firefighters said there was no one else in the building, so they are not among the dead, maybe they left to see their families for the weekend," the governor was quoted by the RIA Novosti news agency as saying. Flames consumed more than 1,200 square meters of the roof (1,435 square yards) and 600 square meters of the second floor in the two-story brick house, officials said, adding that the fire was already under control.
Earlier, officials said that at the time of the fire, 235 people were in the building, including 15 staff. The building, located some 11 kilometres (seven miles) away from Taiga, was constructed during the second World War, Tuleyev said, adding however that it was fully renovated two years ago and was thoroughly checked for safety measures this year. Investigators did not exclude arson as the fire's cause, officials said. The incident followed a fire which swept through a Moscow drug rehabilitation clinic early Saturday, killing 45 women in a suspected arson attack.
posted by wnsworld @ 2:34 AM
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