At Least 22 Die In Russian Care Home Fire

At least 22 people died when fire gutted a remote, wooden care home in the northwestern Russian republic of Komi, a spokeswoman for the local branch of the Emergencies Ministry said Sunday. President Dmitry Medvedev dispatched the Kremlin's envoy in northwest Russia to investigate the blaze in the village of Podyelsk, 120 km (75 miles) from the regional capital Syktyvkar, which was brought under control by firefighters early on Sunday.

"We have found the bodies of 22 people," Lyubov Terenteva, head of the press service for the Emergencies Ministry in Komi, told Reuters. "Other fragments of human remains were also found and we believe 23 people died in all."

The Emergencies Ministry reported on its website that 23 people had died. Interfax news agency quoted a state prosecutor as saying 22 bodies and four body fragments had been found.

Fire broke out at the care home, which houses 26 residents, mostly elderly, early on Saturday evening, Terenteva said by telephone from Syktyvkar, about 1,000 km (625 miles) northeast of Moscow.

Three women were rescued before firefighters arrived at the single-storey building. Prosecutors are questioning three staff members who survived the fire, Terenteva said.

The blaze once again raises concerns over lax fire safety in Russia. Slow evacuation procedures have been blamed for previous deaths, while fire escapes in Soviet-era buildings can be blocked or locked for security.

Care homes have been particularly vulnerable: 62 patients and staff died in a March 2007 fire in an old people's home in the southern region of Krasnodar, while 32 died in November 2007 near the city of Tula, 200 km (125 miles) south of Moscow.

The cause of the latest fire was unknown. State-run television channel Vesti 24 quoted Konstantin Bobrov, head of the press service of the regional government, as saying an unextinguished cigarette could have been to blame.

The Komi republic, whose northern extremities reach into the Arctic Circle, is sparsely populated and covered mostly by forests and swamps. It holds significant reserves of oil, coal diamonds and bauxite.

Vladimir Torlopov, the 59-year-old head of the Komi republic, said an investigation would begin immediately.

"I have ordered the most thorough investigation into the reasons for this tragedy. Now, the most important thing is to provide the injured with everything they need," Torlopov said in a statement on his administration's Web site, www.rkomi.ru.