Deadly fires are common in Russia because of wide-spread violations of fire safety rules.

NPR: 38 Die In Mental Hospital Fire Outside Moscow

Enforcement of fire-safety rules in Russia is lax, contributing to a death rate from fires that is far higher than in many Western countries.

WSJ: Russian Hospital Fire Kills 38

In 2009, a fire in a packed nightclub in the Ural Mountains city of Perm killed more than 100 people, leading to widespread checks of safety-rules by fire inspection teams around Russia.

WSJ: Russian Hospital Fire Kills 38

The chief minister said after the 2011 fire at the Advanced Medicare Research Institute that the government had ordered strict adherence to safety rules at all buildings.

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