Fire in Russia's mental hospital kills at least 36

A big fire broke out in a mental hospital in Russia's Moscow region early Friday, killing at least 36 people, the Russian emergency department said.

The ITAR-TASS news agency reported that rescuers have found 36 bodies. The death toll could rise to 38 as only three out of the total 41 people in the hospital had escaped the fire, authorities said.

The fire broke out at 2:23 a.m. local time (2223 GMT) in a single-storeyed building of the mental hospital in Moscow's northern Dmitrovsky district. The fire has been brought under control.

Firefighters try to cease the fire in a mental hospital where a fire broke out in Moscow's northern Dmitrovsky district, April 26, 2013. (Xinhua/RIA Novosti)