Eight people were killed and seven people were injured in the fire accident that took place at Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Magnitogorsk on November 28, 2006. The Interdepartmental committee looked into the causes of the fire, but Chelyabinsk Region State Fire Surveillance disagreed with the committee’s report on quite a few points.

According to the experts of State Fire Surveillance, some grave violations of the fire safety regulations could be observed at the Complex; the company’s executives were actually administratively prosecuted for failing to meet these requirements. Besides, the experts observe it is not improbable that the fire might have been caused by the so-called human factor, an unextinguished cigarette, for instance. It is virtually impossible, however, to find the evidence in the ruins of the building now.

As regards the Interdepartmental Committee, they are inclined to believe that the fire broke out because of a faulty bearing near the pickle bath. The State Fire Surveillance experts, on the other hand, assume the bearing was broken during the fire due to the roof failure.

The State Fire Surveillance officers have already made a list of fire safety measures to be implemented at the sheet-rolling shop of the company (this is the shop where the accident actually occurred).