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Eight Foreigners Reportedly Killed in Sochi Fire

Press Service of the Emergency Situations Ministry in the Krasnodar region

At least eight people have reportedly been killed in a fire at a residential building in the Russian resort city of Sochi.

Krasnodar region emergency services said the fire had been put out two hours after it was reported in the pre-dawn hours of Monday. An unnamed Sochi administration spokesperson told Interfax the fire may have been caused by a neighboring barbecue grill.

“According to preliminary data, eight hired workers from [post-Soviet] countries were killed,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Two people were hospitalized with burn wounds, while a third is receiving medical help after jumping out of the building’s second floor, according to the Telegram channel Mash.

Regional investigators said they have opened a criminal case into negligent homicide.

According to the state-run TASS news agency, Sochi administration officials said the land plot where the fire broke out was owned by the state-owned Russian Railways company.

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