Blaze kills 26 at Azerbaijan rehab centre

International Desk: At least 26 people have been killed in a fire at a drug rehabilitation clinic in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.

However, local media claims the toll of dead as 30.

Police and prosecutors said in a joint statement on Friday that the fire broke out at 6:00am local time (0200 GMT) and wasn't put out until three hours later.

They said a short circuit is believed to be the cause of the fire. The Health Ministry said 200 patients and staff have been evacuated, and 34 people have been rescued from the building.

The office of the Azerbaijani president said he had arrived at the scene to oversee the rescue effort.

 

Source: Agencies

 

risingbd/Dhaka/March 02, 2018/A K Azad