Odesa Oblast police have reported the final number of victims in the Dec. 4 central Odesa college fire as 16. The fire also gutted the building of the College of Economics and Law located at 25 Troyitska St. in downtown Odesa.
Odesa deputy mayor Andriy Kotlyar published a list of the victims. Most died in the fire, while student Kseniya Babenko and firefighter Serhiy Shatokhin died later from their injuries in a hospital.
According to Kotlyar, the city has completed the search for survivors and started building repairs.
According to the Ministry of Science and Education of Ukraine, the college resumed courses on Dec. 9 at another building located on 19 Heroyiv Krut St. and on the premises of Odesa Finance and Economics College.
Ukraine’s government allocated Hr 4 million ($170,000) to liquidate the building’s wreckage and pay compensation to victims. “This money can in no way diminish the scale of the tragedy… However, this is the minimum support for the families which the state can now provide,” Ukraine’s education minister Anna Novosad stated.
The college and several other research institutions formerly located at 25 Troyitska St. are governed by Novosad’s ministry. The city of Odesa also housed one of its executive bodies at the building.
Odesa police are investigating the cause of the fire and have identified two suspects, according to Serhiy Shayhet, the chief investigative officer for the Odesa Oblast police.
In 2014, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Odesa Oblast found several fire safety violations at the building that were never resolved.
In the wake of the tragedy, four schools in Odesa Oblast will be closed on Dec. 16 for failing to meet fire safety regulations. About Hr 10 million ($420,000) is needed to make the necessary fire safety improvements at the four schools.
