A fire at a Moscow drug clinic today killed 45 women patients and staff who were prevented from escaping by metal grilles, emergency services said. Arson was the likely cause of the fire, officials said.
Hospital psychologist Olga Rudakova told NTV television the dead were mostly women under 35, addicts infected with HIV and many with psychological disorders. "The lights went out and panic started," she said. "Everyone could have left, there were no patients that could not walk."
Crying relatives of the dead arrived at the brick building with white grilles on the windows as ambulances hurried to and fro in the yard. The glass of some windows had been smashed, but the grilles were intact.
"The number of victims has reached 45," Deputy Emergencies Minister Alexander Chupriyan told reporters outside Drug Treatment Hospital No. 17 in southwest Moscow. "Judging by the position of the bodies, people tried to get out but there was only one fire exit available."
The Emergencies Ministry said it applied to a court in March to close the hospital because of fire safety violations including grilles on windows and staircases. The court turned down the request.
All the victims were women and two were clinic staff. "The personnel did not undertake any rescue measures," Chupriyan said. "When they discovered the fire, they simply left the building." Inside the building, poorly furnished wards and corridors were darkened by fire and flooded with water.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov called the fire "a tragedy". "There was nothing there that could catch fire on its own. This is either arson or negligence (when) using highly inflammable material," he told NTV television station.