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Russian nursing home fire kills at least seven - (UPDATED - 3)

Other News Materials 1 February 2009 03:15 (UTC +04:00)

At least seven people were killed and another 18 were missing early Sunday after a nursing home caught fire in northwestern Russia, state media reported.

Firefighters in the republic of Komi spent several hours fighting the blaze.

Irina Valentinova, a spokeswoman with the Russian Ministry of Emergency Services, said that details about the fire were still emerging early Sunday and that the government does not think the current death toll will be final.

Russian media were reporting that authorities were slow to report the fire, making it more difficult for firefighters to battle the blaze in a building engulfed in flames when they arrived.

Lubov Terenteva of the emergency ministry in Komi said that by early Sunday, the fire was out and rescue workers were clearing the scene and searching for survivors.

Authorities did not know what caused the fire, Terenteva said, CNN said.

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