Almaty hostel fire: Most of residents are foreign nationals

Most of the residents evacuated from the burning hostel in Almaty are foreign nationals, Kazinform News Agency reports.

 The cause of the fire is being investigated. According to the hostel administration, the majority of the residents are the nationals of Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Kazakhstan. People were asleep when the fire broke out. They were without clothes, for this reason they cannot be identified yet. Without laboratory examination, the cause of the fire cannot be determined too, says chief of the municipal emergencies department Nurlan Atygayev.

In his words, the hostel was opened a month and a half ago.

The hostel was in a basement of a three-storey building, which fundamentally violates the law. The basement is not suitable for living, no matter how it is equipped, he adds.