A Russian government commission has launched a probe into the causes of Saturday's fire in a shopping center in the southwest Russian republic of Bashkiria that killed two and injured another five people, a spokesman for the regional administration said on Sunday.
The fire occurred in the rush hour in the five-storey Europa center in the city of Ufa, the republic's capital, when the restaurants and shops were crowded. The blaze covered an area of 1,200 square meters and badly damaged the building.
Komsomolskaya Pravda daily said several dozen people were injured in the fire and were hospitalized with burn wounds.
The cause of the blaze is yet to be established. Russian emergencies are considering three causes - a short circuit, careless handling of fire and violation of fire safety rules.
Local emergencies officials said earlier the fire was likely caused by construction work on the fourth floor.
Russia has an extremely poor fire safety record. Around 15,000 people die in fires across the country annually. In the United States, with more than twice the population, the figure is around 3,400 deaths a year.
In December 2009, a fire in the Urals city of Perm claimed the lives of over 150 people. The deadly fire, the worst in modern Russia's history, swept through the Lame Horse nightclub in Perm, 1,400 kilometers east of Moscow, when an indoor firework display malfunctioned.
UFA, January 23 (RIA Novosti)
