Azerbaijan, Baku, July 22 / Trend E. Mehdiyev /
The Heydar Aliyev Centre was not damaged as a result of fire, centre director Anar Alakbarov told media on Saturday.
"We continued to stay open. The fire occurred mainly on the ceiling of the museum which itself was not damaged," he said.
He added that the museum has a perfect fire system. Currently the construction company has continued operations with the work under completion. The security system has not been fully commissioned yet.
According to the original version, the fire started due to welding operations.
Head of the fire service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, major general Fuzuli Asadov told the media that according to the preliminary version, the fire in the Heydar Aliyev Centre occurred due to non-compliance with fire safety rules during welding operations.
He added that fire service staff examined the samples taken from the fire. The information on the causes of the fire will be disseminated next week.
"The fire did not cause any damage to the inner part of the Heydar Aliyev Center. Only 1000 square metres of roof was burned in the Centre," Asadov said.
He added that the control centre of the ministry of emergency situations received the information about the fire at 11:34 on the morning of July 20.
"The fire brigades were immediately sent to the scene," he said. "Later, about 25 more fire brigades and two helicopters of the Baku garrison were involved. Due to the high professionalism of the fire brigade staff, they prevented the fire spreading to the inside of the centre. The inner part of the building was not damaged and no one was injured.
Spokesman for the Prosecutor General's office Eldar Sultanov told media that the head and investigators of the Investigation Department of the Heinous Crimes Department of the Azerbaijani Prosecutor General's office, prosecutors and forensic experts of the department and a mobile forensic laboratory attended the Centre in connection with the fire and examined the area. Specialists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of National Security and Forensic Centre under the Azerbaijani Ministry of Justice were also involved into the process.
Sultanov said that it was determined that the fire covered the ceiling of the museum. A welding bug and metal construction items were taken as material evidence.
Sultanov said that the Heinous Crimes Department of the Prosecutor General's Office filed a criminal case under article 225.2 (violation of fire safety rules) of the Criminal Code.
The judicial and fire and construction-technical and physical-chemical examinations were conducted. The procedures are being conducted to determine the volume of damage.
A special operational investigative group was created by the order of the Prosecutor General's office, minister of emergency situations, minister of national security and minister of justice on July 20, 2012 to investigate the issue.
Sultanov added that the investigation is underway. Information about the course of the investigation will be disseminated.