In Wake Of Russian Human Tragedies, Russian President Calls For National Solidarity And For Entertainment Programs To Be Replaced By Classical Music

"A fire that swept through a home for the elderly and disabled in southern Russia killed at least 62 people early today, a toll that officials attributed to safety violations and a night watchman’s negligence. Many of the dead were confined to their beds and unable to flee the smoke and flames, the officials said.

In a country seemingly inured to unnatural deaths in accidents and attacks, the scale of the fire — the deadliest in Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union more than 15 years ago — was jarring.

The fire erupted in a government nursing home in Kamyshevatskaya, a small village on the Azov Sea, and it came as rescuers continued to search for survivors of an explosion in a coal mine in Siberia. The death toll in the mining accident rose to at least 106 today and included 20 members of the mine’s management, officials said. At least four other miners remain missing, though one emerged alive today, the emergencies minister announced.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia took the unusual step of addressing the disasters publicly, appearing in televised remarks only hours afterwards to observe a moment of silence and then to demand thorough investigations. He later declared Wednesday a national day of mourning, calling for the cancellation of entertainment events and programs." ...

Steven Lee Myers "Fire at Russian Nursing Home Kills 6" New York Times March 20, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/world/europe
/20cnd-fire.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

























The huge, tragic fire in Kamyshevatskaya, a small village on the Azov Sea, the Russian Federation.

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