Russian Nursing Home Fire Kills 62
Posted by Kim on March 20th, 2007 / Print This Post
This is very sad, and it shouldn’t have happened. But in the far away world of Russia where things are not at all like they are in the US, this is not that unusual.
KAMYSHEVATSKAYA, Russia — Flames engulfed a nursing home in this village without a fire station Tuesday, killing 62 frail and elderly residents after the night watchman ignored two alarms and emergency teams took nearly an hour to arrive. At least 30 people were injured.
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Authorities blamed the nursing home disaster on safety violations at the home, toxic building materials used in a renovation, negligence by the staff and the nearest firehouse being about 30 miles from Kamyshevatskaya, a town on the Azov Sea in southern Russia.Many of the 93 elderly residents of the home were too frail to escape on their own, and nearly all of those who did get out suffered injuries.
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Emergency officials said a night watchman ignored two fire alarms before reporting the blaze around 1 a.m. and it took firefighters in Yeisk almost an hour to get to Kamyshevatskaya, where the fire station was closed last year to save money. The blaze was reported out around 5 a.m.
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Officials said a fire alarm system that had not been fully installed signaled three times, but a watchman ignored the first two alarms and reported the fire only after he saw flames.In addition, nursing home staff were absent from their posts, slowing efforts to find keys and open an emergency exit, officials said. The officials also said the nurse and three orderlies on duty weren’t enough to quickly evacuate the building.
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:57 pm
Sad. Very sad.