A dormitory fire in Tuva has claimed at least 25 lives.
Another dormitory fire in Moscow last December killed 38 foreign students.
Of all the tragic disasters Russia suffers, this one upsets me the most, because it wasn’t fires that killed all these people – it was the locked doors.
The typical Russian dormitory has just one entrance. If this wasn’t enough of a fire hazard, this solitary entrance is normally locked at night, preventing residents from going in or out. Ground floor windows are also barred, to prevent break-ins. Now, officially, there is supposed to be someone stationed by the locked door, so that it can be opened in an emergency. More often than not, though, the guard is either off drinking lots of vodka, or dead to the world, sleeping off the evening’s vodka.
This isn’t just stupid. It’s criminal.
{ 1 comment }
From what I saw in Russia, we can expect plenty more of these types of incidents.
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