Deadly fire at Ukraine's Odessa not pre-planned: official
Xinhua, April 22, 2015 Adjust font size:
The deadly fire that killed dozens of people in May last year in the southern port city of Odessa was not pre-planned, said an official on Wednesday.
"The investigation established no evidence that the fire in the House of Trade Unions was pre-planned," First Deputy Prosecutor General of Ukraine Volodymyr Guzyr told reporters.
The fire was caused by petrol bombs used by rioters during the clashes in the building between pro- and anti-government protesters.
Most of the victims died of carbon monoxide poisoning, Guzyr said, refuting the initial version that a toxic substance, chloroform, had been brought to the building before it was set on fire.
"The version about the use of chloroform was not confirmed," Guzyr said.
On May 2, 2014, 48 people were killed and 247 others injured in a blaze that broke out in a Trade Union building in central Odessa after clashes between football fans supporting the current authorities and anti-government activists.
The country's Interior Ministry had said that a "provocation," which was planned beforehand, was likely the cause of the fire. Endi