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Follow the link to learn moreTwenty-one people have been killed in a fire at a mental health hospital in the Voronezh region (south of Russia), and another two are still missing, the director of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry's branch for the Voronezh region, Igor Kobzev, has said.
"As of 7:00 a.m., 21 people were killed and another 51 were rescued. Of them, 23 are currently at healthcare institutions of the Voronezh region. Their life is not in danger. Twenty-four people have been placed in a similar [mental health] clinic," Kobzev told the Rossiya 24 (VGTRK) television station.
The blaze broke out in the first unit of the mental health hospital, located in the village of Alfyorovka in the Novokhopyorsk district near the city of Voronezh, overnight into Sunday. There were 74 people, including four medical staff members, in the building when the fire erupted. The fire was extinguished some three hours later. The hospital's unit was completely destroyed by the fire.