Arson suspected in Moscow clinic fire

A fire broke out early Saturday at a drug treatment hospital in southwestern Moscow, killing up to 45 people, the city's fire fighting service said. Arson was suspected, an official said.

Flames started on the second floor of the eight-storey building of the Drug Treatment Hospital No. 17 at 1:42 a.m. Moscow time (2242 GMT Friday).

The victims, including 43 patients and two clinic personnel members, died of fire smoke poisoning, according to the latest information.

Metal bars on the windows prevented people from escaping. There was only one exit in the building.

All victims died before firemen arrived, Russian Deputy Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan said.

The fire alarm sounded immediately in the ward for women where the blaze broke out. However, the clinic personnel's actions were improper, Chupriyan said, adding that the staff did not evacuate patients from the building, but saved themselves.

The staff called the police about 20 minutes later.

"In six minutes first fire engine arrived at the scene and at 02:15 a.m., the fire was localized and extinguished," Irina Andrianova, Spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying.

Andrianova said a total of 214 people had been evacuated from the clinic located in Bolotnikovskaya Street.

Yuri Nenashev, the head of the state fire inspection department of the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, told journalists that arson was the most likely cause of the night fire at the hospital. "It is 90 percent arson," said the official.

"We have found the seat of fire and it is limited by an area of three square meters. Our laboratory is working at the conflagration scene and no technical equipment has been found at the site such as electric wiring, heating devices, etc," the official said.

Moscow Prosecutor Yuri Syomin said that all the possible causes of the fire were being checked, including "intentional destruction and damage of property."

Source:Xinhua