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In Moscow a criminal case over violation of fire safety killing 17 people forwarded to court

Investigating bodies of the Moscow Central Investigations Directorate of the Russia’s Investigative Committee have completed investigating a criminal case against Sedrak Stepanyan. He is charged with a crime under part 3 of article 219 of the RF Criminal Code (violation of fire safety requirements of the Russian federation, involving by negligence death of 17 people).

According to investigators, Stepanyan – head of the organization leasing warehouses, violated fire safety requirements and illegally constructed a building and let the foreign workers live there. As a result, on 3 April 2012, combustible materials caught fire in an extension to the warehouse located at Varshavskoye Shosse in Moscow due to conducive to accident work of electric heater and its use without water cooling. During the fire no measures were taken to timely evacuate and rescue 17 people inside the extension, who due to specific features and bars on the windows of the building could not get out of it.

Investigators have collected enough evidence and the criminal case with approved indictment was forwarded to the court to be tried on the merits.