Fire sweeps through Russian warehouse, killing 17 workers

Moscow, Aug 27 (AP) A fire swept through a Moscow printingplant warehouse today, killing 17 migrant workers fromKyrgyzstan, Russia’s emergency services said. A representative of the Kyrgyz community said the victimswere all young women trapped in a dressing room while changinginto their work clothes. The fire was caused by a faulty lamp on the first floor ofthe warehouse, where many flammable liquids and paper productswere stored, and it spread quickly through an elevator shaftto the room where those who died, said Ilya Denisov, who headsthe Moscow branch of the emergency services. He said firefighters found the bodies of 16 workers andsent four injured workers to the hospital, where one laterdied. Denisov, whose statements were carried by Russian newsagencies, said the dead were all from Kyrgyzstan, a formerSoviet republic in Central Asia, and were believed to beworking legally in Russia. Kyrgyzstan’s Foreign Ministry confirmed that 14 of thedead were Kyrgyz citizens. Abdygani Shakirov, who heads an organisation representingthe Kyrgyz community in Moscow, said all of the dead wereyoung women. "Most of them were in Moscow to earn money," he toldRussian news agencies. "They were in the dressing room andwere unable to get out. The smoke had blocked the exit." (AP)CPS