Details added (first version posted on 11:22)

Baku, Azerbaijan, March 2

Trend:

Twenty-four people died as a result of fire in Azerbaijan’s Drug Abuse Treatment Center in Baku, says a joint statement of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Health Ministry of Azerbaijan.

The statement says that it was managed to save 34 people of 55 who were in the building of the center during the fire.

Three of them are hospitalized in the Republican Toxicology Center.

The strong fire broke out at 06:10 (UTC+4) on March 2 in a one-story building of Azerbaijan’s Drug Abuse Treatment Center in Baku.

The manpower and equipment of the State Fire Control Service of the Emergency Ministry, ambulances arrived at the scene. The regiment of rapid response of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and employees of the Khatai Republican Unitary Enterprise provided the security of the territory and unhindered work of rescuers.

The fire was extinguished at 09:13.

Under the instruction of the Azerbaijani president, the Prosecutor General’s Office has filed a criminal case, and an investigative and operational group has been created from the staff of the Prosecutor General’s Office, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

The measures implemented are under the control of the head of state.

According to preliminary investigation data, the fire occurred due to a malfunction in the building’s electricity network.