DUSHANBE, January 9 (RIA Novosti) - Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov said Monday that the commission inquiring into the fire that killed 13 children in an orphanage in Dushanbe, the Central Asian republic's capital, early Sunday, had 10 days to determine what caused the blaze.
Rakhmonov said the findings had to be reported to him personally.
"The president was shocked by the tragedy, the tragic death of 13 orphaned children that occurred in Dushanbe in the early hours of Sunday through authorities' negligence," the president's press secretary said.
The fire broke out at night when the children, disabled mentally or physically, were asleep. Two children were hospitalized with severe burns, local authorities said Sunday. A total of 77 children were evacuated and accommodated in a school building. The fire completely destroyed the orphanage that was built in 1934. Preliminary reports suggest electricity overload as the cause of the fire.
The president tasked the commission with reviewing personnel performance in similar institutions and auditing the spending of funds allocated for orphanages, as well as inspecting their technical condition.
Rakhmonov also ordered money to be allocated from a government fund to cover the burial expenses and provide aid to the victims' families.
He ordered Deputy Prime Minister Asadullo Gulomov to prepare in short time a project of a modern center for disabled children near Dushanbe, according to the press secretary.
