Three children's lives, minutes of fire, and dozens of questions about the safety systems of residential complexes – the night fire in Astana has once again raised the issue of fire safety and accessibility for emergency vehicles in conditions of dense urban development. Investigators are now determining the cause of the fire and assessing the actions of all services involved.

On the night of April 12, a fire broke out in an apartment on the 15th floor of a 21-storey apartment building on Turkestan Street in the Yesil district. The fire resulted in the deaths of three underage children, while their mother was pulled from the flames and taken to a hospital. A criminal case has been initiated, forensic examinations have been ordered, and a pre-trial investigation is underway.

According to emergency services, the fire started at night and, by the time firefighters arrived, had already reached the stage of open burning throughout the entire area of the apartment.

A significant difficulty during the rescue operation was that access to the apartment was physically restricted – the entrance door was secured with a metal structure featuring two locks, requiring forced entry using special equipment.

Simultaneously, external obstacles arose for the firefighting crews – the courtyard of the residential complex turned out to be partially blocked, and the access routes were filled with residents' cars, which hindered the maneuvering of equipment in the first minutes after their arrival.

"The fire alarm and warning system activated, and the elevators descended to the first floor. However, the entrance to the courtyard was blocked by a metal gate, and the area was cluttered with vehicles. Despite this, the emergency services department prevented the fire from spreading to adjacent rooms," reported Omirzhan Tukushev, Deputy Head of the Emergency Situations Department of Astana.

According to eyewitnesses, the emergency began suddenly – first, cries were heard from the apartment, then smoke began to spread rapidly through the stairwell, filling the staircases and corridors.

Residents note that it was the smoke that became the primary signal for evacuation. People began leaving their apartments on their own, helping each other and alerting neighbors.

"At around 1:45 a.m., we heard cries: 'Save us, help!' My wife woke me up. I opened the window and saw smoke coming from below. We immediately got the children out and started knocking on neighbors' doors to wake them. Everyone was going down the stairs. The firefighters arrived about 10 minutes later, but the children could not be saved," one resident of the building recounted.

The evacuation took place under conditions of heavy smoke, via the stairwells, without using elevators.

According to official data, a total of 20 people were evacuated from the upper floors, while approximately 40 others left the building on their own.

The police cordoned off the area and simultaneously organized the clearing of vehicles from the courtyard to ensure access for fire and medical equipment, which took additional time while firefighting efforts were already underway.

According to reports, after the fire crews arrived, the main efforts were focused on containing the source of the fire and preventing its spread to neighboring apartments and floors. Despite the intense burning inside the apartment, the spread to adjacent premises was stopped.

During firefighting operations inside the apartment, the bodies of three children were found – two girls aged 13 and 5, and a two-year-old boy. According to law enforcement officials, the circumstances of their deaths, including the effects of high temperature and toxic smoke, will be determined through forensic medical and fire-technical examinations.

A woman born in 1986 was also carried out of the apartment. She received emergency care at the scene and was urgently hospitalized. Three emergency medical teams worked at the site.

According to the capital's health department, the mother of the children is in critical condition. The woman suffered severe burns and burn shock and is currently in the intensive care unit.

Neighbors reported that the woman worked in the tourism services sector and single-handedly raised her children, fully providing for their daily needs.

After the fire was extinguished, the residential building became partially unfit for normal living in the fire-affected area. In the stairwell, a strong smell of smoke remains, walls and ceilings are sooty, and there are visible signs of intensive firefighting in common areas.

The most serious damage was recorded in the apartment on the 15th floor, where the interior spaces were completely burned out, as well as in neighboring apartments, where doors and some utility systems were damaged.

Currently, some residents have temporarily left the building – some have been accommodated in a hotel, while others have gone to stay with relatives pending the completion of the building inspection and restoration work.

Following the tragedy, possible causes and circumstances of the incident are being actively discussed on social media. Some users believe that the difficulty faced by fire trucks in accessing the site may have been related to cars parked in the courtyard. Others point to more systemic causes – the dense development of the district and the lack of parking spaces, which leads to regular blockage of access routes.

However, the final legal assessment of all the circumstances of the incident will be provided by the investigation, which is gradually piecing together a complete picture of what happened.

Linara SAKTAGANOVA
Astana