A fire erupted overnight in a private illegal nursing home in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, killing 22 people, the Russian Investigative Committee said on Saturday.
In a video released by emergency services, a long row of emergency vehicles lined up outside the burning building, as firefighters tackled flames that sent plumes of smoke into the night sky.
Images released by emergency services showed the building later completely burned out.
Photo: EPA
The committee — which investigates major crimes — said it opened a probe into causing death by negligence.
“A fire broke out overnight in a private property used as a nursing home,” the committee wrote on Telegram, adding that “the death toll has risen to 22.”
A previous statement on Telegram had called it an “illegal” home, but a later version edited the phrase out.
However, a police source quoted by Russian state-run news agency TASS also called the home illegal.
“Six more were injured, two of them were hospitalized and are in a serious condition with burns,” the Telegram statement said.
An earlier statement from emergency services reported that 20 people had died.
The fire spread over 180m in a two-story wooden building, TASS reported.
The committee said that a 31-year-old man who had “rented out a private property to people in [a] difficult situation” had been taken for questioning.
“On the eve of the incident, the tenants informed the accused that the stove was faulty, but he did not take any action to repair the equipment,” the committee said.
“Inspections on the scene are ongoing,” it said, adding that “witnesses are being questioned.”
The committee published a video of one detainee with his face blurred.
Emergency services said the premises had been identified last year and an inspection had been scheduled.
“On Dec. 7, the inspector of the State Fire Supervision Service arrived at the facility for a check. The management of the shelter denied him access to the premise,” emergency services wrote on Telegram.
Kemerovo Oblast Governor Sergei Tsivilev instructed local authorities to “identify legal entities, entrepreneurs, citizens who provide social services for the elderly and disabled.”
“When violations are identified, take comprehensive measures to eliminate them,” he wrote in a statement on Telegram.
Earlier, Tsivilev said his administration would “inspect all institutions of this type, and as a priority, private ones ... within a week.”
Fire safety rules are often contravened in Russia due to corruption, as building permits are given by officials in exchange for bribes.
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