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Number of victims of fire in Russia’s Tver climbs to 11, source says

Work at the site continues

MOSCOW, April 23. /TASS/. The number of people perished in a fire at the Central Research Institute of the Russian Aerospace Defense Forces in Tver has increased to 11, a source in the emergency services told TASS on Saturday.

"During the removal of debris, the bodies of five more individuals were found, in all, 11 people died in the fire," the source said, adding that work at the site continues.

Earlier, it was reported that six people died and 24 were injured in the fire, 13 of them had been hospitalized while 11 of them were receiving outpatient treatment. During the firefighting effort, 54 people were rescued and 98 were evacuated.

At 11am Moscow time on Thursday, a blaze erupted in one of the second-floor offices of the research facility. It engulfed an area of 2,500 square meters, spreading to almost all floors. The roof partially collapsed. High temperatures, old floors of the building and heavy smoke complicated work to put out the fire. According to preliminary reports, a short circuit failure was the cause behind the reported incident.

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