{"id":644747,"date":"2019-06-11T12:50:00","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T12:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"
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Six people died when fire swept through a psychiatric hospital for war veterans in the Ukrainian city of Odesa, authorities said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The fire erupted late Monday evening in the one-storey building, Ukraine\u2019s emergency services said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cSix people died and four have been hospitalised,\u201d the statement said. Nine other people escaped unharmed.<\/p>\n

The facility provided mental health care for veterans of the Soviet Union\u2019s 1980s war in Afghanistan and World War II.<\/p>\n

Police and emergency services did not immediately comment on whether the fire was started deliberately, but said it did not appear to have originated inside the building.<\/p>\n

Paramedics continued to search the hospital after the fire had been extinguished, looking for any patients who could have been left behind, an AFP journalist said.<\/p>\n

Bodies lay covered on the ground outside the brick building.<\/p>\n

Fifty-seven firefighters on 12 fire engines fought to extinguish the blaze, emergency services reported.<\/p>\n

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he regretted the \u201cterrible tragedy\u201d and ordered Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman to set up a committee to investigate.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reasons (for the fire) will be established. I present my condolences to the families of the victims,\u201d he said on Twitter.<\/p>\n

Deadly fires are relatively frequent in Ukraine and other former Soviet republics due to outdated infrastructure and poor security measures.<\/p>\n

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