The Hindu : International : 45 die in Moscow hospital fire

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Sunday, Dec 10, 2006
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45 die in Moscow hospital fire

Russia's chief fire inspector says disaster caused by arson

MOSCOW: A fire broke out in a women's ward of a Moscow drug treatment hospital early on Saturday, killing 45 women who found themselves trapped between the fire and a locked gate, officials said.

It was the deadliest fire in the Russian capital in decades.

Russia's chief fire inspector, Yuri Nenashev, said he was ``90 per cent certain'' the fire was caused by arson, and Mayor Yuri Luzhkov said it appeared to be arson or extremely careless handling of flammable materials.

Moscow city prosecutor Yuri Syomin said investigators were also looking into other possibilities.

The fire erupted in a wooden cabinet in a kitchen at one end of a corridor on the hospital's second floor — a factor that led to suspicions of arson. The main emergency exit was blocked by a locked gate and the only other way out was cut off by choking smoke. The barred windows were shut with locks that hospital personnel, who had the keys, apparently did not have time to open. All 45 women were dead by the time firefighters arrived.

NTV showed a soot-covered survivor sitting outside the building. — AP

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