MOSCOW, July 27 (Itar-Tass) — Three people were killed and nine were injured during a fire at four apartment houses in the Volga River city of Astrakhan, sources from the regional centre of the Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations told Itar-Tass on Wednesday.
The fire broke out at a two-storey apartment house overnight to Wednesday. First fire brigades arrived at the site four minutes after the fire alarm.
“Because the fire was spotted late, it had already spread to nearby residential buildings by the moment firemen arrived,” ministry sources said. The fire damaged 400 square meters of interior and roofs of four apartment houses, they said earlier.
“Nine people were injured in the fire, six of them were hospitalized,” the sources said.
Administration officials, police and emergency teams work at the site. All in all, 64 people lived in the houses, and the authorities consider their resettlement. Specialists are looking into the causes behind the fire.