At least 10 foreign workers have been killed in a massive fire at a shoe factory in Russia’s Novosibirsk region.
The incident near the Siberian town of Iskitim may have been caused by fire safety violations, local media reported on Thursday.
“[The victims] tried to extinguish the fire before the arrival of the firefighters. However, they died of carbon monoxide poisoning,” the Interfax news agency cited an emergency response team source as saying.
The state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported that 10 people died in the fire, including seven Chinese citizens, two citizens of Kyrgyzstan and one Russian.
Authorities have opened a criminal investigation into the incident, a regional Investigative Committee spokesman told RIA Novosti. He added that the death toll was still being verified.
“It’s possible that the victims were unfamiliar with the basic rules of safety,” an emergency response team source told Interfax.
