‘155 people were taken to municipal clinic # 40 and 15 people to central clinic # 2 from IKEA construction site yesterday. Eight of them had to be immediately transferred to the intensive care unit; their condition was quite severe but by now, things have improved. The condition of 105 people can be characterized as moderately severe; the condition of 57 people is described as not severe.

‘The life of the patients is out of danger now, but they will only be allowed to leave the hospitals after the doctors actually identify the toxico-infectious microbial flora that was at the back of the food poisoning,’ the superintendent of Infections Division of municipal clinic # 40 Alexander Egorov announced at the press conference today.

‘The results of the medical examination reveal no traces of any inedible substances in the blood of the victims, so doctors believe it was actually an alimentary infection. The microbial flora that is to blame will have been identified by the end of today or tomorrow,’ said Director of Public Health Administration in Yekaterinburg Alexander Prutkov.

‘IKEA is reported to have hired 1,700 Turkish workers and Evelyn Ltd., a catering company/canteen in order to speed up the construction process. Yet there apparently were no proper living conditions or organized meal times. The Public Health Administration is going to examine all the construction projects within three days in order to see how well the living standards and catering requirements are met. The public prosecution authorities of Verkh-Isetskiy District of Yekaterinburg have commenced criminal lawsuit on the basis of food poisoning,’ Mr Prutkov said.