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In Saratov Region, sentence imposed over probe into fire in cafe entailing death and infliction of severe bodily harm to visitors

The evidence gathered by the Saratov Regional Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation has been found to be sufficient by the court to sentence a 47-year-old woman, resident of the Lysye Gory settlement. She has been found guilty of committing an offense under Part 3 of Article 238 of the Criminal Code of Russia (rendering of services unsafe for consumers’ lives and health, entailing by negligence infliction of severe bodily harm and the death of two persons).

The investigation and the court established that the female resident of the Lysye Gory settlement registered as an individual entrepreneur had organized the Rendezvous café in rented premises and had been rendering catering services with the involvement of employees. In January 2019, the owner of the café had instructed to fill and deliver to the café of a 27.2-liter gas cylinder that had been used for cooking. In this, the entrepreneur had failed to meet the requirements of safety for consumers’ lives and health. In particular, she had violated the established procedure forbidding installing, storing, and using individual gas cylinders in premises located in (underneath or above) dining and trading floors of catering facilities.

On January 26, 2019, during a festive event in the café dedicated to the 60th anniversary of a local resident, as a result of the gas cylinder depressurization, gas had been released on the ground floor of the café with subsequent ignition of the resulting gas-air mixture. That had caused the fire in the café.

Owing to the accident, two café visitors had received burns, which entailed their death, and three visitors had received injuries, which entailed severe health damage. Apart from that, 25 visitors including two minor children born in 2012 and 2015 received various injuries that did not cause severe bodily harm.

The court has sentenced the convict to 5 years and 5 months of imprisonment in a general regime penal colony.