Translated material
Death behind the bar
Ten people died as a result of arson in the Orenburg region
In the city of Orsk, Orenburg region, identification of victims of a terrible fire in one of the local bars, which claimed the lives of at least ten people, will continue today. Local intelligence services managed to find out little about the circumstances of the tragedy yesterday. The only thing that has been reliably established is that the drinking establishment, equipped in an ordinary metal hangar with an area of only about 100 square meters. meters, it broke out around midnight. And firefighters, having put out the fire, found burnt human bodies in the ashes. Nevertheless, the most incredible rumors immediately spread throughout the city - from versions of a terrorist attack to deliberate arson in order to hide the mass murder. About three dozen employees of the prosecutor's office, police, FSB and the Ministry of Emergency Situations began to investigate the incident. However, by evening, experts were only able to establish that the cause of the fire, most likely, was indeed arson. But who could have committed it and why, and whether it was preceded by another crime remains unclear.According to fire department No. 1 of Orsk, a signal about a fire in the building of the Yantarny bar, located on the territory of one of the city markets on Patsaeva Street, was received at about 0.15. By the time rescuers arrived, the establishment was completely engulfed in flames, and clouds of black acrid smoke were escaping from the premises - as it turned out, the plastic that mainly made up the interior of the bar was burning out. 15 fire crews were able to cope with the fire only after 1.5 hours. By that time the building was already completely destroyed. Another hour later, while clearing the rubble behind the bar, rescuers discovered ten badly burned human bodies. According to preliminary data from experts, there were three women and seven men.
The Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Orenburg Region, after a quick inspection of the burnt building, stated that it absolutely did not comply with fire safety standards. “It was an ordinary metal hangar with an area of 110-120 square meters, adapted for a cafe,” said Deputy Head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations Pyotr Lyashko. The one-story metal frame structure housed a kitchen, a hall for visitors and a utility room. According to experts, there was little chance of getting out of the cramped Yantarny building, crowded with tables and counters, in the event of an unexpected fire, even without someone’s malicious intent. The bar had two exits - the main one, facing the market, and a spare one (from the parking lot), but, according to regular visitors, it has already been established that it was almost always closed. According to Assistant Prosecutor of the Orenburg Region Galina Mayorova, now, as part of the investigation, the work of regulatory authorities monitoring compliance with fire safety requirements will also be checked.
Immediately after the news of the discovery of the dead, employees of the prosecutor's office, dog handlers with search dogs, experts and explosives technicians from the FSB arrived to the burnt bar. At first, representatives of the security forces officially stated that they were considering three causes of the fire - a short circuit, arson and careless handling of fire. However, rumors immediately spread throughout the city about the criminal background of the incident. Some eyewitnesses claimed that they allegedly heard a loud bang, similar to an explosion, after which the room was engulfed in fire. Others insisted that there were several pops that sounded like gunshots. In addition, there were sources who stated that there were knife wounds on the bodies of the victims and their hands were tied. Suspicion was also aroused by the fact that the bodies were found not at the tables, but behind the bar counter, near the back room.
However, the prosecutor's office of the Oktyabrsky district of Orsk, which opened a criminal case under the article “premeditated murder of two or more persons,” yesterday denied this information. FSB experts called the version of the terrorist attack unfounded - no characteristic injuries were found. Experts suggested that something electronic could have exploded in the bar or that the bangs could have been the result of a gas explosion caused by the fire. In addition, according to preliminary data from criminologists of the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, all the dead simply suffocated in the smoke. At the same time, they noted that it is still impossible to say whether the victims were injured while they were alive - the bodies were badly burned, and only a forensic examination, which will take several days, can find out. Towards evening, fire experts determined that the fire was located near the entrance to the bar, and investigators admitted that the main version was arson.
In addition, there were witnesses who said that a few minutes before the emergency, two young men ran up to the bar, threw something inside the establishment, after which they propped up the front door from the outside and disappeared. True, their signs were just being clarified yesterday. One way or another, yesterday investigators from the prosecutor's office and operatives from the police department went around the apartments of the surrounding buildings, looking for young people of 20-25 years old, one of whom wears a denim jacket, the second a dark windbreaker. In the courtyards, detectives searched for possible evidence of the crime.
Investigators believe that the arsonists could have acted either out of hooligan motives or on orders from competitors of the bar owners. According to some reports, the owner of the cafe had a hostile relationship with the former owner of the establishment. The identification of the dead continued until yesterday night. The bodies were badly burned, and so far only four have been identified - the owner of the establishment, a girl bartender, a 21-year-old visitor and her friend.