Skip to main content

38 die in mental hospital fire near Moscow

38 die in mental hospital in dreadful incident after fire-broke out in hospital outside Moscow. Thirty-eight people were killed, most of them in their beds, in a fire that raged through a psychiatric hospital near Moscow on Friday, raising questions about the care of mentally ill patients in Russia.

The fire, which broke out at around 2 a.m. (2200 GMT on Thursday), swept through a single-storey building at the hospital, a collection of wood and brick huts with bars on some windows that was home to people sectioned by Russian courts.

By mid morning, a few blackened walls were left standing. The roof had caved in on top of the twisted metal of what were once beds. Bodies lay on nearby grass, covered with blankets.

Only three people escaped from the fire in the village of Ramensky, 120 km (70 miles) north of Moscow, prompting speculation the patients were heavily sedated or strapped down.

Irina Gumennaya, aide to the head of the chief investigative department of the Moscow region, dismissed suggestions they had been restrained as "rubbish" but promised blood tests to check whether there were high levels of sedatives.

"The wards ... did not have doors, the sick could have escaped from the building by themselves," she said, adding that she believed the most likely cause of the blaze was patients smoking, or perhaps a short circuit.

President Vladimir Putin called for an investigation of the "tragedy", the latest in a long line of disasters at state institutions that are often ill-funded. Russia's safety record is dismal, accounting for a high death toll on roads, railways and in the air as well as at the workplace.

Psychiatrists said the fire was not the first and would not be the last of its kind.

"(This happened) because of dilapidated buildings in psychiatric hospitals - a third of the buildings since 2000 have been declared unfit, according to health standards," Yuri Savenko, president of the independent psychiatric association of Russia, said in a telephone interview.

Furthermore, junior and middle-ranking staff had miserable salaries and "because of that the staff were asleep", he said.

RUSSIA - "THE MADHOUSE"

Putin's critics blamed the state for neglecting its most vulnerable people.

"Terrible news .. Those patients who burned were there because they were forced to have treatment," said Dmitry Olshansky, former editor of "Russian Life", an online journal.

"I read all this and I wonder - what does this remind us of? And then I remember - this is our motherland, the madhouse. Flood, fire, bars on windows ... and we cannot deal with it," he said on his Facebook site.

Officials said the blaze consumed the building quickly and firefighters had no chance to save any more people - an account that locals disputed, saying fire engines took more than an hour to reach the scene.

"Don't trust anyone who says they (firemen) arrived quickly ... My wife woke me up, we went out on the street with our daughter. Flames were rising high," said a man, who was drinking an early-morning beer at a friend's garage nearby.

Asked why it caught fire, Alexander Yefimovich, an elderly man said: "Why? It's just the usual nonsense."

More than 12,000 people were killed in fires in 2011 and more than 7,700 in the first nine months of 2012 in Russia, where the per capita death rate from fires is much higher than in Western nations including the United States.

Popular posts from this blog

Study Abroad USA, College of Charleston, Popular Courses, Alumni

Thinking for Study Abroad USA. School of Charleston, the wonderful grounds is situated in the actual middle of a verifiable city - Charleston. Get snatched up by the wonderful and customary engineering, beautiful pathways, or look at the advanced steel and glass building which houses the School of Business. The grounds additionally gives students simple admittance to a few major tech organizations like Amazon's CreateSpace, Google, TwitPic, and so on. The school offers students nearby as well as off-grounds convenience going from completely outfitted home lobbies to memorable homes. It is prepared to offer different types of assistance and facilities like clubs, associations, sporting exercises, support administrations, etc. To put it plainly, the school grounds is rising with energy and there will never be a dull second for students at the College of Charleston. Concentrate on Abroad USA is improving and remunerating for your future. The energetic grounds likewise houses various

Best MBA Online Colleges in the USA

“Opportunities never open, instead we create them for us”. Beginning with this amazing saying, let’s unbox today’s knowledge. Love Business and marketing? Want to make a high-paid career in business administration? Well, if yes, then mate, we have got you something amazing to do!   We all imagine an effortless future with a cozy house and a laptop. Well, well! You can make this happen. Today, with this guide, we will be exploring some of the top-notch online MBA universities and institutes in the USA. Let’s get started! Why learn Online MBA from the USA? Access to More Options This online era has given a second chance to children who want to reflect on their careers while managing their hectic schedules. In this, the internet has played a very crucial in rejuvenating schools, institutes, and colleges to give the best education to students across the globe. Graduating with Less Debt Regular classes from high reputed institutes often charge heavy tuition fees. However onl

Sickening moment maskless 'Karen' COUGHS in the face of grocery store customer, then claims she doesn't have to wear a mask because she 'isn't sick'

A woman was captured on camera following a customer through a supermarket as she coughs on her after claiming she does not need a mask because she is not sick.  Video of the incident, which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views on Twitter alone, allegedly took place in a Su per Saver in Lincoln, Nebraska according to Twitter user @davenewworld_2. In it, an unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of the customer recording her. Scroll down for video An unidentified woman was captured dramatically coughing as she smiles saying 'Excuse me! I'm coming through' in the direction of a woman recording her A woman was captured on camera following a customer as she coughs on her in a supermarket without a mask on claiming she does not need one because she is not sick @chaiteabugz #karen #covid #karens #karensgonewild #karensalert #masks we were just wearing a mask at the store. ¿ o