"The number of fires was down 4%, and the number of fatalities caused by fires fell 6.8% against 2005, but the number of injured increased 1.3%," the source said, adding that 13,379 people were injured in fires during 2006.
Firefighters and rescuers saved over 96,000 people from fires last year, he said, adding that most of the fires were registered in homes, accounting for 72% of the total.
The source said financial damage caused by fires amounted to 7.9 billion rubles ($297.22 million at the current exchange rate), 16.4% higher than in 2005.
The most tragic fire in 2006 occurred in early December at a drug treatment hospital in southern Moscow. Forty-five people, including 43 patients and two members of staff, died as a result of inhaling fumes before a fire brigade arrived at the scene. The 200-plus survivors were evacuated safely, and ten of them were hospitalized.
