Arson may have caused a fire that broke out in a Moscow drug rehabilitation hospital early Saturday, killing 45 women, investigators say.
Many of the victims were young recovering addicts who were trapped by a locked gate inside the woman's ward of Drug Treatment Hospital No. 17 in southwest Moscow.
Fire broke out in a Moscow drug treatment hospital Saturday, killing at least 45 women who were trapped by locked gates. Arson is suspected.
(Mikhail Metzel/Associated Press)
The building itself was not badly damaged and it's believed those killed died of smoke asphyxiation, said Moscow fire department spokesman Yevgeny Bobylyov. Ten people were being treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.
Russia's chief fire inspector, Yuri Nenashev, said he was "90 per cent certain" the fire was caused by arson.
But Moscow city prosecutor Yuri Syomin said that investigators have drawn no conclusions on the cause of the fire.
Forty-two people died at the scene, with others dying later in hospital. Russian news organizations reported that two hospital staff were among the dead.
Ekho Moskvy radio said that burning plastic wall coverings had worsened the heavy, toxic smoke.
Distraught survivors gathered outside the hospital Saturday morning, talking of how they woke in the middle of the night to find smoke everywhere. They say most of the windows were blocked by metal grills and doors were locked, but eventually they managed to find a way out.
Alexander Chupriyanov, the deputy emergency situations minister, said a recent inspection discovered a number of safety violations in the 40-year-old building. Staff were told to make changes, but it's not clear whether any were done.
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