All news

Owner of Moscow restaurant where three persons were killed in fire, gets 20 months in prison

Suren Mkrtchyan was found guilty of violating fire safety rules

MOSCOW, October 30 (Itar-Tass) — A Moscow court sentenced Suren Mkrtchyan, the owner of the Il Pittore restaurant where three persons died in a fire and another 39 were injured in January, to 20 months in jail.

"Mkrtchyan was found guilty of violating fire safety rules, which resulted in the death of three persons by negligence, and providing services that did not meet safety requirements," an official at the Investigative Committee told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

On January 13, Moscow's Cheryomushki court sanctioned Mkrtchyan's arrest.

A gas cylinder explosion in the cafe on January 9 afternoon collapsed a ceiling and started a fire. Three persons died and another 39 were hospitalized with injuries. The investigators ascertained the group of persons responsible for the incident. Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markin said then more than 20 persons had been questioned and recognized as injured parties.

The restaurant owner paid compensations to the families of the fatalities and the injured persons of his own accord.