Elderly among 23 killed in fire at Russian psychiatric hospital

MORE THAN 440 FIREFIGHTERS AND EMERGENCY WORKERS BATTLE SATURDAY’S BLAZE

Twenty-three psychiatric patients, most of them elderly, died when a fire ripped through their care facility in southern Russia Saturday night, in the latest tragedy to hit mental health hospitals in the country.

“The bodies of 21 people have been found, two more died in hospitals,” said the emergencies ministry yesterday, adding that a further 23 people were hospitalised.

Seventy patients and four nurses were in the Soviet-era ward when the fire broke out shortly before midnight (2100 GMT) Saturday at the hospital in the village of Alfyorovka, in the southern Voronezh region.

Most of those who perished were in their 60s and 70s, although some were in their 40s and 50s, according to a list of patients released by the emergencies ministry.

The state-owned Rossiya 24 rolling news channel said patients had been given tranquillisers as part of their medication before the fire broke out.

“They simply did not wake up,” a correspondent reported from the scene, saying they choked on noxious smoke.

Igor Kobzev, chief of the Voronezh regional branch of the emergencies ministry, said that “the epicentre of the fire was located in a place where bedridden patients were.”

The fire gutted the hospital building made of brick and wood, with footage showing firefighters still combing through the smoking ruins in light snow.

It took more than 440 firefighters and emergency workers around three hours to bring the fire under control.

The Investigative Committee, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, said it opened a criminal probe into the deaths on suspicion of negligence.

There was no immediate reaction from the Kremlin but Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov went to the scene to oversee the response to the tragedy and conduct a meeting on fire safety.

The blaze was the latest tragedy to hit a psychiatric institution in Russia, where outdated Soviet-era infrastructure is still in widespread use and managers often take a lax approach to fire safety.

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AFP Tragic aftermath Firefighters and rescuers working among the debris of a psychiatric hospital destroyed by the fire in the village of Alfyorovka, in the southern Voronezh region. This is the latest tragedy to hit mental health hospitals in the country.