Russia: Old People’s Home Underwent Safety Checks Last Year, Says Official

The Russian Emergencies Ministry is ruling out the possibility that the fire at an old people’s home in Krasnodar Territory was caused by a violation of fire safety rules, Russian Ren TV reported in a bulletin at 0930 gmt on 20 March.

The bulletin showed Sergey Kudinov, the head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Southern Regional Centre, explaining that the home in the village of Kamyshevatskaya had been subject to safety checks: “In January last year there was a planned inspection, including under the auspices of the state fire safety inspectorate, and in December there was an unscheduled inspection.”

The report also said that inmates at the home were initially evacuated by local people. It showed Yevgeniy Solomin, an eye- witness, explaining what he saw: “People were being got out of windows on the first floor. They were old women.”

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