Hospital fire in Moscow kills 42 people

~ Fire inspectors had previously recommended the facility be temporarily closed.

MOSCOW -- A fire broke out at a drug treatment hospital while patients slept early Saturday in Moscow, filling the wards with heavy smoke and killing 42 people, fire officials said.

Russia's chief fire inspector, Yuri Nenashev, said he was "90 percent certain" the fire was caused by arson.

About 160 people were evacuated from the five-story Hospital No. 17 in southern Moscow, said Moscow Fire Department spokesman Yevgeny Bobylyov. But he blamed hospital workers for not reacting to the fire sooner and evacuating people more quickly.

The fire started in a corridor on the hospital's second floor and the only possible exit was blocked by a locked gate, Nenashev said. The barred windows were also locked shut.

Nenashev said fire inspectors had visited the hospital twice earlier this year and recommended the temporary closure of the facility because of fire safety violations.

"Unfortunately this decision was not adopted," he told journalists at the scene.

A few ambulances were lined up outside the hospital, a nondescript, brick building in a residential neighborhood. Reporters were kept well away from the building, which did not have any obvious signs of fire or smoke damage on its facade.

Bobylyov also criticized hospital officials for not calling the fire department until very late. He said firefighters put out the blaze within an hour of the first call for help.

The victims died of asphyxiation, Bobylyov said. Ten people were also hospitalized for carbon monoxide poisoning, he said.

The ITAR-Tass news agency said the fire was confined to a small part of the building, but the heavy concentrations of smoke killed people while they slept.

Russia records about 18,000 fire deaths a year -- roughly 10 times the rate in the United States and 12.5 times higher than in Britain. Experts say fire fatalities have skyrocketed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, in part because of lower public vigilance and a disregard for safety standards.