RAMENSKY, Moscow Region, April 26 (Itar-Tass) – The fire broke out in a room where patients were placed after quarantine, a spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative Committee's Moscow regional department told Itar-Tass.
A group of patients who were under quarantine were placed in the room the day before. The fire broke out in the room, she said.
Two main versions are under consideration – a short circuit and carelessness with fire handling, she said.
Experts from the Investigative Committee’s central office arrived at the site. The investigators question the nurse who survived.
According to the preliminary information, most of the people died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
Twelve dead bodies have been found at the mental hospital fire site in the town of Ramensky, the Moscow Region, the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry's Central Regional Centre told Itar-Tass.
The examination of the premises is continuing, a source at the centre said.
Forty one people, including three personnel members, were in the hospital when the fire broke out. Only three, including a nurse, survived. The rest 38 people supposedly are dead.
The nurse who rescued two patients could not lead the rest out when the fire swept the corridor and spread fast. She could rescue only two patients - a woman and a young man, the source said.
Most of the patients were sleeping after they took medicines before the night.
A criminal case is opened over the fire.
The Moscow Region's Acting Governor Andrei Vorobyov has declared mourning in connection with the tragedy in the town of Ramensky, the Dmitrov district of the Moscow Region, where supposedly 38 people died in the fire in the mental hospital.
The governor declared mourning in the Moscow Region on April 27, his press service told Itar-Tass.