Russian emergency situations minister telegrams condolences to his U.S. counterpart over deadly Oakland fire
MOSCOW. Dec 5 (Interfax) - Russian Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov has offered words of sympathy to the families and friends of the people killed in a major fire in Oakland.
"It was with great sorrow that I learnt of the fire in the city of Oakland (the state of California) which claimed many lives. Please accept my sincere condolences and convey words of sympathy and support to the families of those killed as well as everyone affected by this tragedy," the Russian minister said in a telegram sent on Monday to the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Craig Fugate.
The fire broke out during a party at around 11.30 p.m. West Coast Time last Friday at a reconverted Oakland warehouse that was used partly as a nightclub and partly as an art exhibition venue. According to various reports, between 50 and 100 people were inside the building at the time.
Over 50 firefighters were deployed to tackle the fire, which was put out hours later. According to the latest data, the death toll is 33 people. Available data indicate that the two-storey building located in the Fruitvale area popular among tourists lacked a fire extinguishing system.
