Criminal case launched after fatal fire in Almaty hostel

A criminal case was launched following the hostel fire in Almaty which led to death of 13 people, Kazinform News Agency reports.

An operational group led by minister of emergencies Syrym Sharipkhanov left for the accident site. As per preliminary data, the fire broke out in a hall of the basement. Fire investigators of the city’s emergencies department are working at the accident scene. The area of the hostel, which started operating a month and a half ago, is 457 square meters. The emergencies department launched a criminal case into the fire, the press service of the emergencies ministry informed.

According to mayor of the city Yerbolat Dossayev, those killed in the fire are the nationals of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Russia.

The hostel belongs to Halyk Bank of Kazakhstan. Students and workers lived in it.

As reported earlier, 13 people were killed in the fire which occurred in the hostel at 05:33 am. 59 people were evacuated from the accident site as of 08:40 am. Three of them were rushed to the Emergency Aid Hospital. 56 people were accommodated temporarily in a nearby school.

The majority of the hostel residents are foreign nationals, said chief of the municipal emergencies department Nurlan Atygayev.

By the prime minister’s decree, a governmental commission was set up to investigate into the cause of the tragedy.