In H1 of 2010, 4.476 fires occurred in Belarus with losses amounted to 20.3 billion rubles ($6.7 million). 538 people died in fires, 264 people were injured. More than 2% of the dead and injured are minors, reported the National Statistics Committee.
87.8% of fires occurred in residential premises. One of the main causes of fires is careless handling of fire. In H1 of 2010, 2.000 fires occurred due to the reason (44.7% of the total), including 1.898 fires (42.4%) in housing stock.
However, over the same period of last year, there occurred 4.936 fires with total losses of 21.7 billion rubles, AFN informs.
According to the Ministry of Emergency Situations, over the past day (August 15) 1.932 fires occurred in the country, their losses amounted to 92.9 million rubles. MES officers rescued two people, three people had injuries of varying severity.
