MOSCOW, January 2 Rescuers found the body of one person killed in a fire in a multi-storey building in Vilnius, five people were injured, a child may remain in the building, the LRT (Lithuanian Radio and Television) portal reported.
Earlier, LRT reported that a five-story apartment building caught fire in the Vilnius district of Viršuliškės; residents heard one or two explosions before the fire. Four casualties were reported.
“We see the body of a person, but we cannot yet approach to establish the identity and gender. The extinguishing is still ongoing,” LRT quotes fire service representative Donatas Gurevicius as saying.
According to him, the fire was localized at 15.33 local time (16.33 Moscow time), but extinguishing it will take several more hours.
“We have information that five people have been injured so far, they are being helped. The most painful thing is that we have information that there may still be a child inside,” said the head of fire operations Vytautas Nenartavičius.
According to the mayor of Vilnius Valdas Benkunskas, residents of 30 apartments evacuated from the building are temporarily housed in a nearby kindergarten.
The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Lithuania, Agne Bilotaite, who arrived at the scene, promised that the Vilnius city government will provide assistance to the residents of the house.
The cause of the fire is still unknown.