DUSHANBE, March 12, 2015, Asia-Plus – There are four Tajik nationals among victims of the fatal Kazan shopping center fire, Ibrohim Ahmadov, a spokesman for Tajik migration service agency’s office in Moscow, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
“Two of them – Qosimjon Tourayev, 43, and Hikmatullo Haytullokhon, 23 — are residents of the Roudaki district and two others – Emomali Riyoyev, 30, and Alisher Davronov, 18 – are residents of the Yovon district,” Ahmadov said.
Meanwhile, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service cited Ibrohim Ahmadov as saying that the five dead victims were Tajik nationals.
Russia media sources report five people died and 55, including two police officers and two rescue team members were seriously injured after the fire raced through the Admiral shopping center in Kazan, capital of Russia’s Tatars tan Autonomous Republic, on March 11.
The fire reportedly started in a first-floor cafe adjoining the Admiral center and more than 600 people were cleared from the building.
Part of the center collapsed and emergency officials said that 16 people were being treated in hospital.
Many more have been reported missing, RIA Novato says.
“There are about 25 people who we can”t get in touch with. We”ve had many calls about it on our hot line,” the head of the Volga regional emergency center Igor Panshin was quoted as saying.
A security guard had initially tried to extinguish the fire himself and it took some time before the fire brigade was called, reports said.
Although the fire has been put out, an area of 4,000 square meters was razed to the ground.
Business owners who had broken through a police security cordon to save their goods from the fire were feared to be among those trapped in the rubble, Itar-Tass news agency reported.
Five hundred riot police were sent to seal off the center to stop people entering the building, it said.
