Fire Safety Failings At Hundreds Of Russian Sites

Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 27th Apr, 2018 ) :Hundreds of commercial and cultural sites in Russia fall below fire safety standards, authorities said Thursday following checks after a fire in Siberia killed more than 60 people in March.

Local prosecutors were ordered to check whether safety regulations were being followed in shopping malls, cultural and children's entertainment sites across Russia after a shopping centre fire in Kemerovo left at least 64 people dead, including 41 children.

In one region alone, the eastern island of Sakhalin, 93 percent of the 230 sites checked did not comply with fire safety instructions, the local prosecutor's office said in a statement Thursday.

Stairs and fire exits are often congested, fire alarms and automatic water sprinklers do not work and the walls are covered with highly flammable materials, the statement said, adding that 156 lawsuits have been launched.