The cause of the fire in an illegal shelter in Kemerovo was a short circuit in the electrical panel of the house

The cause of the fire in an illegal shelter in Kemerovo, where 23 people died on December 24, 2022, was a short circuit in the external electrical panel of the house. This was announced on April 16 by Sergey Voronov, Director of the Department of Supervision and Preventive Work of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation.

"The cause of the fire was not inside the building where the fire occurred, but was on an electrical panel that was located outside the building on the outer wall," TASS quoted him as saying.

A fatal fire in an unofficially operated homeless shelter on Tavricheskaya Street occurred on the night of December 24, 2022. As a result of the incident, 23 people were killed and five others were injured. Law enforcement agencies reported that the administration of the burnt-out shelter grossly violated fire safety requirements. The examination established that the cause of the fire was a short circuit.

The shelter's organizer, Pastor Andrey Smirnov, was detained. He was sentenced to five years in a penal colony. Roman Plet, a fire inspector, was also sentenced to four years in prison.