Deadly fire kills 20 at 'illegal' Russia nursing home
At least 22 people are dead after a fire at a retirement home in the Russian city of Kemerovo, in east-central Siberia.
The blaze broke out late Friday night and investigators said six people were injured in the fire, two of whom are in hospital being treated for serious burns.
Rescue workers completed their work at the scene in the early hours of Saturday morning, and a video posted by officials showed several fire engines positioned near the small, dilapidated building. The interior of the building was completely burnt out.
According to the Tass news agency, the fire spread during the night over 180 square metres in the two-storey wooden building.
This private retirement home was "illegal", according to a police source quoted in Russian media, and the Russian Investigative Committee announced it had opened an investigation into "negligence resulting in the death of two or more people."
The Russian Investigative Committee had announced earlier on Saturday the opening of an investigation for, among other things, "negligence resulting in the death of two or more people".
A 31-year-old man is accused by investigators of "renting out a private house as a temporary residence to elderly people", the Investigative Committee said in a separate statement.
The alleged cause of the fire was "a faulty stove", investigators said.
"The day before the incident, the tenants informed (the landlord) that the boiler was defective, but he took no steps to repair the equipment," they complained.
"The inspection of the premises is continuing, and the objects necessary for the continuation of the investigation are being seized. Witnesses are being questioned," the statement said.
According to the emergency services, the establishment had been
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