The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Moscow

A fire at a nursing home in Russia has killed at least 23 people, an emergency official said Monday.

The blaze broke out Sunday in the Tula region south of Moscow, Emergency Situations Ministry spokesman Viktor Beltsov said.

Fire inspectors had asked courts to order the nursing home closed because of fire safety violations, including the lack of an alarm system, Beltsov said.

The toll from Sunday's fire at the retirement home in the village of Velye Nikolskoye, 30 kilometres (20 miles) outside Tula, rose steadily as bodies continued to be discovered in the charred ruins.

RIA Novosti news agency quoted a law enforcement source saying that an electrical short circuit started the blaze.

Flames spread quickly through the 1950s-era building, which had wooden beams and no fire alarm, Interfax reported.

More than 100 firefighters and 22 vehicles were sent to the scene, where 293 people, including 17 nurses, were evacuated, Interfax quoted the Emergency Situations Ministry as saying.

Police announced a criminal investigation into violation of fire safety procedures, news agencies reported.

Beltsov told Interfax that more people could have been saved if the fire services had been called earlier.

"The reason for mass death of people in the old people's home in Tula region was the delayed raising of the alarm," he said.

The deadly blaze was only the latest of a series in Russia, where accidents often end tragically due to poor safety procedures and infrastructure.

In December last year, a fire in a Moscow drug rehabilitation clinic killed 45 women. Many of the victims were trapped by metal bars on the windows that staff could not open and an emergency exit was boarded up.

In March, a fire at a nursing home in southern Russia killed 63 people. The blaze was blamed on violations of fire safety regulations and the lack of a nearby fire station.

Ten people were killed in June in a suspected arson attack on a retirement home in the Omsk region in Siberia.