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File photo from 2006 of firemen at work in Moscow. MISHA JAPARIDZE/AP/Press Association Images
Russia
Nine killed in Russian retirement home fire
Self-immolation of veteran believed to be cause of blaze.
NINE PEOPLE HAVE DIED and two others were seriously injured in a fire at a retirement home in western Russia.
Investigating officials are considering “several possiblities” in connecting with the outbreak of the fire, and said they were also exploring the possiblity that an 86-year-old war veteran may have set himself on fire. They said: “An empty petroleum canister was found in his room.”
The man believed to have started the fire had been living at the home for four years. One social worker connected with the home told Russia Today that he had not made many friends at the home and had rarely received visitors.
Witnesses who survived the fire describe the scene in this report:
Fires in retirement homes killed more than 100 people in 2007, and 23 people last year. After last year’s blaze, President Medvedev announced new fire safety regulations for homes.
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