A fire, possibly caused by an electrical fault, swept through a Moscow dormitory block in the early hours yesterday, killing 32 foreign university students and injuring 139 others, local officials said.

With freezing temperatures outside, many casualties had jumped from windows to escape the blaze in the crowded five-storey block housing students from the developing world at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba People's Friendship University.

"People were jumping from the windows because it started on the second floor and there was no other way out,'' Richard Mallobe, a sociology student from Liberia, told reporters. "It was absolutely horrible.

"It happened very fast. Some people jumped and were burnt so we tried to get them into ambulances.''

Among the casualties were students from China, Bangladesh, Viet Nam and a number of African countries, the trade union of foreign students told Interfax news agency.

"Twenty-eight people died inside the building, three bodies were discovered outside and one person died later,'' a city police spokesman said.

He said 139 people had been treated for injuries and a total of 272 people, including students from China, Viet Nam, Ecuador, Tahiti, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Angola were registered as living in the block.

Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov told NTV that investigators suspected the fire was caused by an electrical fault.

"'It is difficult to talk about the cause,'' he said. "According to preliminary information, which we have now investigated, the cause was domestic. Most likely, there was a short circuit in room 203.''

However, Russian agencies reported a criminal investigation had been opened and authorities were not ruling out arson.

The university, founded in 1960, was named after Congo's first president after the African nation gained independence from Belgium. It was designed to provide education to students from the developing world.

*** 16 Chinese missing

A total of 34 Chinese students were injured and another 16 Chinese students were missing in the fire yesterday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

There is possibility that there are Chinese students among the 32 victims of foreign students an official at the Chinese Embassy in Moscow said yesterday.

He said the injured Chinese students had been sent to seven local hospitals.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, after hearing the news, urged the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Chinese Embassy in Russia to keep in touch with the Russian side to get the full facts about the situation.

President Hu and Premier Wen Jiabao, also urged the ministries and the embassy to look after the injured Chinese students and locate the missing ones.

Chinese Ambassador to Russia Liu Guchang and other Chinese embassy officials there went to the site to assist with the rescue work.

About 80 Chinese students live in the part of the building where the fire took place. The official added that the embassy is helping to confirm the identity of the injured Chinese.

(China Daily November 25, 2003)