70 evacuated from hospital fire in Ukraine

A fire at a hospital in western Ukraine early Friday forced more than 70 people to evacuate, authorities said. The Emergency Situations Ministry said the fire broke out on the fourth floor of Lvov city hospital at around 3:38 a.m. local time (0138 GMT), when patients were asleep. Firefighters battled the blaze for about an hour before it was extinguished, the ministry said, adding that a preliminary investigation found that short circuit might have caused the fire. On July 10, a fire at a home for the elderly in western Ukraine killed 16 people. At least 1,867 people have been killed in more than 56,900 fires in Ukraine during the first nine month of the year. Careless handling of fire and violation of fire safety regulations were usually to blame.