36 die, 200 injured in Moscow dorm fire ( 2003-11-25 10:23) (Agencies)
Foreign students trapped by a fire roaring through a dilapidated university
dormitory where some exits were blocked shrieked for help and leapt in
desperation from its upper stories in an early-morning conflagration that killed
36 people and injured nearly 200 others.
The fire, believed to have been caused by an electrical malfunction, engulfed
the five-story building at People's Friendship University, which was showpiece
during Soviet times but fell into disrepair after the collapse f the Soviet
Union.
Firefighters extinguish the fire, which
engulfed most of a five-story dormitory belonging to the Patrice Lumumba
Friendship of Peoples University, Moscow, early Monday, Nov. 24, 2003 in
this image from television. [AP]
The
building served as a quarantine facility for foreign students who had just
arrived in Russia and were to undergo medical checks before starting their
studies. Students said the dead and injured included citizens of China,
Bangladesh, Vietnam, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Tahiti, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Angola,
Ivory Coast, Morocco, Kazakhstan, the Dominican Republic, Lebanon, Peru and
Malaysia; the Chinese foreign ministry said 34 Chinese students were injured and
17 others were missing.
"A man from Ecuador shattered himself and died when he jumped out of the
fifth floor," said Adam Rosales, a 22-year old Peruvian student, as he gazed in
shock at the blackened hulk of the building.
Lubov Zhomova, a spokeswoman for the Moscow Health Directorate, said
36 people died and 200 others were injured — 57 of them in serious or grave
condition.
"It was like a horrible nightmare," Abdallah Bong, a student from Chad. "We
saw them crying for help and jumping out of the windows, and we could do nothing
to save them."
Bong and other eyewitnesses said that dozens of fire engines were slow to
start action as they jammed into a narrow access road blocked by parked cars.
"Students had to do it all themselves, holding mattresses for those who were
jumping out," said Nafafe Tengna, a third-year journalism student from Guinea.
Some half-naked victims suffered frostbite as ambulances were slow to arrive.
Moscow fire safety department spokesman Yevgeny Bobylyov insisted that the
firefighters arrived on time and did their job well.
The flames roared for more than three hours, gutting most of the dormitory
above the ground floor, and smoke poured from windows as a wet snow fell in the
pre-dawn darkness. After the fire was put out, the building's concrete walls
were streaked with dark black soot, and nearby trees were caked with ice that
had formed from water used to extinguish the blaze.
A preliminary investigation pointed to an electrical problem, Deputy Interior
Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev told Russian President Vladimir Putin, who inquired
about the fire during a Cabinet session. Some bystanders said the fire could
have been sparked by electric heaters, which students use to get warm.
The university was founded in 1960 and named Patrice Lumumba People's
Friendship University in honor of the post-colonial Congo's first prime
minister; its name was changed in 1992. Its aim was to offer a strict Marxist
curriculum to students from developing nations.
It served as a showcase of Soviet patronage of the Third World, receiving
generous state subsidies, but declined after the 1991 Soviet collapse as
government funding dried up. But the university has continued to attract
students from impoverished with its low tuition — medical school tuition runs
US$1,200 a year.
A 22-year old student from Mauritius, who identified himself only by his
first name, Vashish, described the school's accommodations as "miserable." He
and other students said one of the dormitory's two stairways was permanently
locked, making an emergency exit more difficult.
With stipends for foreign students shrinking to almost nothing, many trade
goods to make money, and dormitories — already cramped — are often packed with
bags and bundles.
Russia has a high rate of fire deaths, 18,000 a year. That is nearly five
times the number of fire deaths in the United States, which has twice the
population. The contrast is even starker with the United Kingdom, where there
are 600 fire deaths a year, or one per 100,000 people — compared to 12.5 per
100,000 in Russia.
Experts say fire fatalities have skyrocketed since the end of the Soviet
Union, in part because of lower public vigilance and a disregard for safety
standards. The age of Russia's buildings also plays a role: Many older buildings
have wood partitions between the floors that help fires spread rapidly.
