Russia's emergency services said a fire broke out at a warehouse in Moscow, killing 17 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan.

The blaze at a printing warehouse occurred early August 27 in the Russian capital’s northeast.

"While extinguishing the fire, it was established that the source of fire is on the fourth floor," Dmitry Shirlin, head of the Office for Fire and Rescue Forces of the Moscow Directorate of the Emergency Situations Ministry, told reporters.

"The rescuers found the room with no access from outside," Shirlin said. "The wall was broken through and inside the rescuers found 16 dead bodies."

Russia's Investigative Committee, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, said a criminal inquiry had been launched into the deaths of the victims of the fire.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Twitter that "those guilty will be found and punished."

Abdygany Shakirov, a representative of the Kyrgyz diaspora in Russia, vowed help to families of the victims.



"We will provide all possible moral and material assistance. We will never leave our citizens in this difficult time," Shakirov said.

Ilya Denisov, who heads the Moscow branch of the emergency services, said the fire was caused by a faulty lamp on the first floor of warehouse, where many flammable liquids and paper products were stored. He said the fire rapidly spread through an elevator shaft to the room where those who died were working.

Denisov said firefighters found the charred bodies of 16 workers and sent four injured workers to hospital, where one later died.

"There is a woman crying, her daughter died, she was only 18," an unidentified witness told Rossia 24. "[They did not escape] because there was no emergency exit."

The Kyrgyz nationals who lost their lives in the fire were in Moscow legally, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said.



Many colleagues of the victims gathered at the site of the fire.

Lax fire-safety standards have often been blamed for such incidents in Russia. In January, 12 people died in a fire in a Moscow clothing factory.

Some 500,000 citizens from Kyrgyzstan, an impoverished, former Soviet republic, are working in Russia.

Based on reporting by TASS, AFP, and Reuters</s>A fire in a Moscow printing plant killed 17 people on Saturday, officials have said.

A representative of the Kyrgyz diaspora in Russia said all the dead were members of its community.

“The incident happened when people were changing shifts at the printing house. It is very hard for us,” Abdygany Shakirov, the Kyrgyz representative told Reuters.

Around 500,000 citizens of the impoverished former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan are working in Russia. The two countries belong to a Russian-dominated customs union.

The Investigative Committee, which reports directly to president Vladimir Putin, said a criminal inquiry had been launched into the deaths of 17 of the victims of the blaze.

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said in his Twitter feed that one more person died later in a hospital.

Ilya Denisov, an emergencies ministry official, told Rossiya-24 TV station a malfunctioning lamp caused the fire.

Lax fire safety standards are often blamed for fatal workplace blazes in Russia. In January, 12 people died in a fire in a Moscow clothing factory.</s>MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s emergency services say a fire swept through a printing plant’s warehouse in Moscow, killing 17 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan.

The emergency services say Saturday’s fire was caused by a faulty lamp in the warehouse, where many flammable liquids and paper products were stored.</s>At least 16 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan have died in a fire at a warehouse in Moscow, Russian authorities have said.

Firefighters arrived at 8am (5am BST) on Saturday at the scene, where a blaze had engulfed 200 sq metres of a warehouse in an industrial zone to the north of the Russian capital.

The fire on the fourth floor of the building, which is thought to belong to a printing company, was extinguished at about 10am, officials said.

Tass news agency quoted the Russian emergency ministry as saying: “When the fire was being put out, a room that had been cut off by the flames was discovered. Firefighters tore down the wall and found 16 dead.”

The head of the Moscow branch of the emergency ministry, Ilya Denisov, said the victims were from the former Soviet republic.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw more than 30 migrant workers gathered outside the warehouse, some of whom wept as they waited for news about those who had been in the building when the fire broke out.

Denisov said the blaze was believed to have been caused by a broken lamp in a room containing large quantities of flammable liquid and paper products.

“The fire spread from the first floor through the elevator shaft to the room in which the people were killed,” Denisov told Interfax news agency.

The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, said the injured had been taken to a local hospital. City authorities have launched an investigation.

“I am certain that those guilty will be found and punished,” Sobyanin tweeted.

In a statement, the Moscow branch of the Russian investigative committee said it was looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.</s>Russian emergency services say a fire swept through a printing plant's warehouse in Moscow on Saturday, killing 17 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan.

The fire was caused by a faulty lamp on the first floor of the warehouse, where many flammable liquids and paper products were stored, and it spread quickly through an elevator shaft to the room where those who died were working, said Ilya Denisov, who heads the Moscow branch of the emergency services.

He said firefighters found the bodies of 16 workers and sent four injured workers to the hospital, where one later died.

Denisov, whose statements were carried by Russian news agencies, said the dead were all from Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, and were believed to be working legally in Russia.

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From Vietnam to Los Angeles: Photographer who captured iconic image on one road sees end of another</s>MOSCOW (AP) — Russian emergency services say a fire swept through a printing plant's warehouse in Moscow on Saturday, killing 17 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan.

The fire was caused by a faulty lamp on the first floor of warehouse, where many flammable liquids and paper products were stored, and it spread quickly through an elevator shaft to the room where those who died were working, said Ilya Denisov, who heads the Moscow branch of the emergency services.

He said firefighters found the bodies of 16 workers and sent four injured workers to the hospital, where one later died.

Denisov, whose statements were carried by Russian news agencies, said the dead were all from Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, and were believed to be working legally in Russia.</s>At least 16 migrants die in Moscow warehouse fire

MOSCOW: At least 16 migrant workers mostly from Kyrgyzstan died in a fire that broke out at a Moscow warehouse early yesterday, Russian authorities said. “When the fire was being put out, a room that had been cut off by the flames was discovered,” TASS news agency quoted the regional branch of the emergency ministry’s press service as saying. “Firefighters tore down the wall and found 16 dead.” Emergency workers arrived at the scene around 0500 GMT to put out a blaze that had engulfed 200 square meters of a warehouse in an industrial zone in the Russian capital’s north.

The fire at the four-floor facility, which is thought to belong to a local printing company, was extinguished at around 0700 GMT, authorities said. The head of the Moscow branch of the emergency ministry, Ilya Denisov, told Russian news agencies that the victims of the fire were migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan’s foreign ministry later confirmed that 14 of the 16 people killed in the fire were Kyrgyz nationals. A representative of the Kyrgyz community in Moscow, Tursunbay Kurbatbekov, told TASS that a 16-year-old girl was thought to be among the dead.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw about three dozen migrant workers gathered outside the warehouse, some of whom wept as they awaited news of the people who had been in the building when the blaze broke out. Denisov said the fire was thought to have been caused by a broken lamp in a room containing large quantities of flammable liquids and paper products. “The fire spread from the first floor through the elevator shaft to the room in which the people were killed,” Interfax news agency quoted Denisov as saying.

Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin wrote on Twitter that the people injured in the blaze had been taken to a local hospital and that the city would investigate the incident. “I am certain that those guilty will be found and punished,” Sobyanin wrote. The Moscow branch of Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement that it was still probing the circumstances surrounding the incident. A criminal investigation was launched to determine whether the blaze erupted due to arson or negligence. — AFP</s>MOSCOW (AP) — A fire swept through a Moscow printing plant warehouse on Saturday, killing 17 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan, Russia’s emergency services said. A representative of the Kyrgyz community said the victims were all young women trapped in a dressing room while changing into their work clothes.

The fire was caused by a faulty lamp on the first floor of the warehouse, where many flammable liquids and paper products were stored, and it spread quickly through an elevator shaft to the room where those who died, said Ilya Denisov, who heads the Moscow branch of the emergency services.

He said firefighters found the bodies of 16 workers and sent four injured workers to the hospital, where one later died.

Denisov, whose statements were carried by Russian news agencies, said the dead were all from Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia, and were believed to be working legally in Russia.

Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that 14 of the dead were Kyrgyz citizens.

Abdygani Shakirov, who heads an organization representing the Kyrgyz community in Moscow, said all of the dead were young women.

“Most of them were in Moscow to earn money,” he told Russian news agencies. “They were in the dressing room and were unable to get out. The smoke had blocked the exit.”</s>Russian President Vladimir Putin has fired two top-ranking generals from the country's Investigative Committee.

Major-General Dmitry Shershakov, the Deputy Head of the Main Directorate's Commission for Combating Corruption, and Vitaly Frolov, the First Deputy Head of the Investigative Committee Oversight Commission, were both pushed from their posts on Friday.

Russia's Investigative Committee has come under particular scrutiny following the arrest of several top officials on charges of corruption.

On July 19, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested several employees of the Investigative Committee's Moscow branch, including its deputy head Denis Nikandrov.

Nikandrov currently stands accused of receiving a $1 million dollar bribe in connection with a case against notorious crime boss Shakro Molodoi, or Young Shakro.

The branch's Head of Security Mikhail Maksimenko, and his deputy Alexander Lamonov, were also arrested on corruption charges.



The chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykhin, condemned the officials as “betrayers,” who had "besmirched" the reputation of colleagues, the Rossiskaya Gazeta newspaper reported at the time.

Shakro Molodoi was arrested on June 11 on charges of extorting money from the owner of the Elements restaurant in Moscow, after a violent shootout in December 2015 left two dead.

For more on the Denis Nikanorov and Young Shakro arrest, click here.</s>A fire in a warehouse at a Moscow printing works killed at least 17 people on Saturday morning, an Emergencies Ministry official told Rossiya-24 TV station.

"Sixteen bodies were found in a room, four injured were brought to hospitals in Moscow. The fire was completely put out by 0953 (local time)," he said.

The dead are all believed to be migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan, AP reported.

The ministry said on its website that 12 people were rescued. The TV station said the people, who lived and worked at the depot, were mostly from former Soviet Union countries.

The fire was reported to have been caused by a faulty lamp, according to AP.

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Lax fire safety standards have often been blamed for such incidents in Russia.
A fire at a warehouse in Moscow, Russia, kills at least 17 people, all migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan. The Investigative Committee of Russia, which reports directly to President Vladimir Putin, says a criminal inquiry has been launched.