Nine Chinese citizens die in big fire in footwear factory near Novosibirsk - source
MOSCOW. Jan 4 (Interfax) - A big fire at a footwear factory near Novosibirsk killed nine foreign workers, a source in the operative headquarters deployed at the accident site told Interfax.
"The bodies of nine people, citizens of China by documents, who had worked at the factory, were found in the debris," the source said.
There are two theories behind the accident: a short circuit and violations of the fire safety rules, the source said.
"The main theory is now a short circuit and problems with the power lines and wiring. However, it is possible that the victims were not familiar with elementary safety rules or were not trained to observe production safety rules," the source said.
According to tentative information, none of the workers who were on the factory premises at the moment of the fire have survived,
The Emergency Situations Ministry press service earlier told Interfax a footwear workshop had caught fire on the Novosibirsk region.
"A report on the fire was received around 9:00 a.m. local time. The fire has now been contained. Open fire is now being extinguished," the report said.
The fire occurred in the settlement of Chernorechensky, Iskitmsky district of the Novosibirsk region, in a building that has an area of some 2,000 square meters.
"Materials intended for footwear production and ready products are on fire, there is a lot of toxic smoke. According to tentative information, workers may be inside the building," the agency said.
Eighty-four people and 24 units of equipment of the Iskitimsky and Berdsky firefighting garrisons are employed in fighting the fire.