The causes of and damage done by the fire that broke out at sheet-rolling shop of Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Magnitogorsk have yet to be determined, reports the press officer for Chelyabinsk Region Department of Emergencies.

Based on what has been revealed by 7 AM today, an exhaust and inflammation of hydrochloric acid placed in the rinse tanks occurred at the etching department of the sheet-rolling shop for yet obscure reason, causing a fire to start. The fire then deformed the bearing structures of the building, so all the metalwork and the roof of the shop covering the area of 3,800 square meters altogether finally collapsed. The total area affected by the fire now comes to about 1,200 meters. The fire was isolated at 2.30 AM and put out at 4.30 AM on November 29, 2006.

The rescue team recovered the bodies of the seven shop workers that had been killed in the accident (four operators, aged 56, 31, 21, and 37, a 53-year-old etcher, a 31-year-old crane operator, and a 49-year old female brander) from under the ruins. Nine people were rescued, with three of them getting first aid and six of them sent to hospitals (municipal clinic № 1 and the medical center of the Complex) with varying gravity of condition.