12/24/2022 08:56 (act. 12/24/2022 08:56)
According to Russian civil defence, 20 people died in a fire at a nursing home in the western Siberian city of Kemerovo. The fire broke out on Saturday night in a shack-like building in an industrial neighborhood of the city, officials said. You are being investigated for violating fire safety regulations in accommodation for socially disadvantaged people, installed in a private building.
Two people were taken to hospital with burns. The cause of the fire is suspected to be the misuse of an oven heater.
Violations of the most elementary safety precautions continue to cause serious fires in Russia. Thousands of people die every year.
A representative of the fire protection inspection wanted to check the installation on Dec. 7 but was refused, Russia’s Ministry of Civil Protection said. The authority published photos and videos of the burning and destroyed building. The forces worked there – about 3,600 kilometers east of Moscow – in snow in sub-zero temperatures. More than 80 people and 28 vehicles were therefore in use.
The owner of the building and a pastor who allegedly ran the facility for the homeless were questioned by investigators, according to Russian state news agency Tass. Thus, there should have been no approval for the operation of the house.