Moscow News (Russia)
July 13, 2005

ARSONISTS FIREBOMB STORE, 25 DEAD

By Oleg Liakhovich The Moscow News

At least 25 people are dead after an explosion sparked a fire in a
shopping centre in the northern Russian city of Ukhta (Komi republic,
about 800 miles northeast of Moscow) on Monday, with another 17
injured. Dozens of people were rescued from the building, many
suffering from burns and asphyxiation.

The cause of the incident in the two-storey building was initially
said to be accidental, the cause of a gas explosion, but officials
later said it was most likely an arson attack. Investigators claim an
unidentified person threw a canister containing a flammable liquid
into the crowded shop. The second floor collapsed and the fire was
not extinguished for several hours, with 70 firefighters attending
the blaze, according to officials.

Sources in the local law enforcement bodies have also not ruled out
that the attack could have been the result of a feud between local
businessmen of Slavic origin and their North Caucasian rivals.

The two-storied shopping center belonged to a man named Vladimir
Gevorkyan, likely an ethnic Armenian. An official from the Ukhta
mayor’s office rejected the theory blaming the incident on criminal
negligence. However, an unidentified spokesman for the Prosecutor’s
Office in Komi said the attack wasn’t terrorism but a result of a
disagreement between businessmen.

Earlier, Russian media reported that police detained two teenagers
who had been seen throwing bottles or canisters with flammable liquid
into the crowded shop. “Two teenagers ran into the trading hall on
the ground floor and threw a container with a burning substance into
the crowd, and the fire spread very quickly,” a spokesman for the
Komi region’s prosecutors was quoted as saying. Witnesses also told
reporters that bars on the windows had kept people from escaping the
blazing store.

Meanwhile, regional prosecutors have launched a criminal case on
murder and premeditated destruction of property. Russia’s Deputy
Emergency Minister Yevgeny Serebrennikov will head a special
commission to investigate the incident.

The regional government declared Thursday, July 14, a day of
mourning, and pledged financial support to the victims and their
families.MN