China lodges representations with Russia on university blaze

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, November 25, 2003

China lodges representations with Russia on university blaze

The Foreign Ministry lodged representations with the Russian embassy in China for the Chinese casualties in the fire in a Moscow university, according to a source with the ministry.

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The Foreign Ministry lodged representations with the Russian embassy in China for the Chinese casualties in the fire in a Moscow university, according to a source with the ministry.

Qiu Shaofang, deputy director-general of the ministry's consular affairs department, made the representation with Sergei Goncharov, minister-counselor in Russian embassy, Monday afternoon.

A disastrous blaze occurred in the dormitory of the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University in Moscow, leaving 36 overseas students dead and nearly 200 injured, including 34 Chinese students injured and 13 missing.

Qiu said China was shocked at the incident and Chinese state leaders showed extreme concern for the personal safety of the Chinese students there.

He urged the Russian side to pay high attention to the incident and promptly handle the remaining affairs.

He asked them to provide full aid for the injured, an active search for the missing students, the list of casualties, investigation into the cause of the fire and convenience for visa application for relatives of the victims.

He also called on relevant departments of the Russian side to take effective measures to improve the study and living conditions of the Chinese students and guarantee their personal and property safety so as to avoid the reoccurrence of such an incident.

Goncharov said both sides were distressed by the tragic incident. He expressed condolences to the Chinese victims and sympathy to their family members.

He said that the Russian side will promptly investigate the cause of the fire, punish the people accountable and provide timely visa application to the relatives of the casualties.

He said that the Russian side would urge relevant departments to properly handle the remaining affairs and take measures for ensuring the personal safety of all foreign students, including the Chinese students.

China's ambassador visits students injured

Chinese ambassador to Russia Liu Guchang visited a number of Chinese students injured in a Moscow university fire for a second time Monday afternoon, bringing them foods and winter clothes, as well as sympathy from the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council.

"The CPC Central Committee and the State Council attached great importance to your safety, health and subsequent arrangements, and I'd like to convey to you the genial sympathy and solicitude from President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao," Liu told some Chinese students who had been evacuated from the scene of fire.

The ambassador encouraged the students to keep calm, help each other and remain confident that the difficulty will be overcome asthe motherland and the embassy are siding with them.

A huge fire broke out at about 2:50 a.m. Moscow time (2350 GMT Sunday) in a dormitory of the Patrice Lumumba Peoples' Friendship University, which is an old-fashioned five-story house on the Miklukho-Maklai Street. The blaze was extinguished at 05:39 a. m. (0239 GMT).

Among 80 Chinese students living in the building, 12 were reported missing and more than 40 injured.

According to the latest news from the Interfax, the fire has killed 36 students and injured at least 170 others.

The Russian Interior Ministry said earlier that 521 foreign students were on the official list of dormitory residents, and most of them were from Asian and African countries, including China, Vietnam, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Angola.

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