25 burned is enough figure to declare a national mourning

Baku / 02.03.18 / Turan: Twenty five dead in a fire on March 2 in the Narcological Center of the Ministry of Health is a big enough tragedy for the president to declare a nationwide mourning. In favor of this, there are also condolences from the heads of state. But on the evening of March 2, Baku TV channels did not change the broadcasting grid and demonstrated the previous TV shows, and MuzTV-Azerbaijan entertained the audience with the cheerful news of show business.

Correspondent of Turan news agency was at the scene and was convinced that more than 50 patients on the eve of the fire were in a large barracks wooden building, preserved since Stalin's times. Obviously, the wiring in it was as old as the barrack itself. Judging by the original official version, the fire was caused by a short circuit in the power grid. Given the low temperatures at night, we can assume that the barracks were heated by electric radiators, which load the electrical wiring. It is in such cases that the old wires smoke and give a spark that easily ignites the dilapidated wooden structures.

A criminal case was initiated, the president personally supervises the investigation, which will identify the perpetrators of the tragedy. However, it is enough to get acquainted with the legislation of Azerbaijan to understand that the main 25th article of the law "On Fire Safety" imposes responsibility for this on the Fire Service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, which is obliged to check fire safety at all facilities and prevent violations. If the instructions of the service are not fulfilled, its employees may partially or completely close the activities of the intruder. However, this was not done.

The health care law imposes on the health authorities the responsibility to ensure the safety of patients in this institution, and the fourth article of the law gives rights to victims of the fire and relatives of the victims to file lawsuits against employees of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In hospitals, as well as in other state institutions, the provision of fire safety is entrusted to the deputy in the economic part.

In the company "Azerigyg" they stated that control over wiring inside buildings is not included in the duties of this company. On the day of the fire (March 2, 2018), the press service of the Ministry of Health, spreading a message about the imminent opening of a new building of the Republican Narcological Center in Sabunchu district, seemed to agree that the burnt down Center was outdated and did not meet modern requirements.

On February 4, 25 days before the fire, the head of the Department of the Ministry of Health, Javid Khalilov, in an interview with Day.az, reported on the successful implementation of programs to provide treatment for thalassemia, hemophilia, diabetes, tuberculosis and other diseases. Among the state programs, the fight against alcoholism and drug addiction does not appear. Reporting on the newly built hospitals, Khalilov did not mention the new building for the Narcology Center.

The terrible conditions of detention and treatment of patients in the old center and the circumstances indicated by us point to the inattentive, secondary attitude of the leadership of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Emergency Situations to the status of the Center of Narcology, which led to the tragedy.

The investigation will identify the perpetrators, but who will be punished? You can make assumptions by analogy with previous tragedies. So, in 1915, in a fire in a multi-storey residential building in Baku, 15 people were killed. In the same year, 10 oilmen were burnt to death and drowned from the fire at the offshore drilling platform, 23 of them were lost without a trace. Junior officials were punished, but high officials remain unsinkable.--0--