Moscow - (AFP) - The Russian authorities announced that at least 22 people were killed Friday night in a fire in a nursing home in Kemerovo, Siberia, in central eastern Russia .

The Russian Investigative Committee said, "According to the latest information, two additional bodies were found during the search of the site. The death toll rose to 22."

According to the investigators, "six people were wounded, including two who suffered burns, and were taken to hospital in serious condition."

In a previous report published by the emergency services via the Telegram application, it was stated that the rescue work ended at 05:25 (02:25 GMT).

In a video clip published by the emergency services, several fire trucks stationed near the small facility appear, while the facility was destroyed by fire.

The Tass news agency reported that the fire spread throughout the night over an area of 180 square meters in the two-storey wooden building.

The agency quoted a source within the police as saying that this private home is "illegal".

And the Russian Investigative Committee had announced earlier, Saturday, the opening of an investigation, focusing in particular on the charge of “negligence causing the death” of people.

The commission added in a separate statement that investigators accused a 31-year-old man of "renting a private house and making it a temporary residence" for the elderly.

Investigators released a short video of a man being interrogated without showing his face.

The commission said the supposed source of the fire was a "damaged stove".

"The day before the accident, the tenants reported (the landlord) that the heater was broken, but he did not take any action to fix it," she added.

And she added, "The inspection continues, and the necessary items for the continuation of the investigation are confiscated. Witnesses are being questioned."

According to the emergency services, the authorities took note of the institution at the end of 2021 and it was scheduled to undergo an unannounced inspection in 2023.

The emergency services added, "On December 7, an inspector from the National Fire Service arrived at the facility for an inspection visit. The institution's management refused him entry."

For his part, the region's governor, Sergei Tsvelev, ordered "immediate" meetings to be held between the various mayors of the Kemerovo region and its "emergency committees."

He also requested, according to the "Tass" news agency, "to examine all homes for the elderly, especially the private ones."

In March 2018, the city of Kemerovo witnessed a fire in a shopping center that claimed the lives of 60 people, including 40 children and adolescents, in a tragedy that shook Russia.

Fire safety rules are not always respected in Russia, in part because of corruption, with many real estate developers obtaining building permits in exchange for bribes.

In early November, a fire in a tavern in Kostroma, 300 kilometers northeast of Moscow, killed 13 people.

In 2009, 156 people were killed in a major fire in a nightclub in Perm, a town in the Ural Mountains in eastern Russia.