Patients killed in Russia hospital blaze

At least 14 people have been reported killed in a fire at a psychiatric hospital in Russia.

The fire happened on Friday in the town of Ramensky, in the Novgorod region.

The Russian Irar-Tass news agency reported 14 people dead, while an emergency situations official, Oleg Voronov, told the Reuters news agency that 37 people were unaccounted for.

The exact number of victims of the fire is yet to be specified.

Investigators say the pre-dawn blaze may have been caused by a patient setting a bed on fire, the Interfax news agency reported.

The fire destroyed a building housing male patients at the hospital, state-run RIA reported. Voronov said there were about 60 people in the building, most of them patients, when it broke out.

It was the second deadly fire at a Russian psychiatric hospital this year. In April, a fire at a hospital outside Moscow killed 38 people and prompted criticism of the state over care of mentally ill patients.

There have been many fires with high death tolls at state institutions such as hospitals, schools, drug treatment centres and homes for the disabled in the past decade, raising questions about safety measures, conditions and escape routes.