Fire kills eight at Russia drug rehab centre

Eight people have been killed after fire swept through a rehabilitation centre for drug addicts in Russia's eastern Altai region, officials say.

Six people were injured in the Chisty List centre near the Krasilovo lake.

The officials say the blaze caused the collapse of the roof of the building.

A criminal investigation into suspected safety rules violations in now under way. Similar tragedies in the past have raised questions over safety standards in Russia's medical centres.

Last September, 37 people died in a fire that engulfed a psychiatric hospital in the north-western Novgorod region.

Several months earlier, a blaze at another psychiatric hospital near Moscow killed 38 people.

In 2009, 23 people died at an old people's home in the north-west Komi region, while in 2007, 63 were killed at a home in Krasnodar, southern Russia.

In 2006, a fire at a Moscow drug rehabilitation clinic killed 45 women.