Blaze at garment workshop kills 14

HA NOI (VNS)— As many as 14 Vietnamese garment workers were burned to death and one other was seriously injured in a fire at a three-storey garment workshop in Yegoryevsk, 100km to the southeast of Moscow, on Tuesday afternoon.

The victims include eight women, six men and one person of unknown gender.

On the same day, a team from the Viet Nam Embassy in Russia went to the town to co-operate with local authorities in dealing with the case.

The victims, who come from the provinces of Ha Nam, Hai Duong, Nghe An, Quang Binh and Thanh Hoa, remain unidentified.

According to local media, the victims were believed to be working illegally at the garment workshop.

Local fire fighters discovered the bodies in a 30-sq.m room on the second floor of the workshop.

The Moscow's Procuracy is prosecuting the workshop owner for violating fire regulations and causing human deaths.

At least 50 Vietnamese citizens worked at the garment workshop when the fire occurred.

The owner of the garment workshop had already fled the scene of the fire.

Local police remanded in custody the rest of the garment workers for further investigation.

The cause of the fire remains unknown. However, the town's investigative committee suspects that it was a short circuit. — VNS