Fire at sawmill in Siberian village kills 11

MOSCOW – A fire at a sawmill in a village in Russia’s Siberia killed 11 people and injured two more on Tuesday morning, emergency officials said. One person remains unaccounted-for.

Ten victims were identified as Uzbek nationals and one as a Tajik.

The fire broke out in a single-story wooden building rented by an unnamed Chinese company and used as a dormitory for the sawmill workers. It was most likely sparked by a malfunctioning electric heater, local authorities said. Firefighters battled the blaze for more than two hours.

A total of 14 people — Uzbek, Tajik and Chinese nationals — lived in the building, in the Tomsk region. Two workers were able to get out but sustained injuries. The fate of the final occupant is unknown.

Russian police have opened a criminal probe.

Uzbek officials said they were working on identifying the bodies and transporting them back to Uzbekistan.

Earlier this month a fire at a greenhouse farm in a Moscow suburb killed eight migrant workers from Vietnam.