Azerbaijani authorities say the fire at a drug rehabilitation center in Baku that killed 25 people on March 2 was caused by a suicide attempt and that a suspect was detained.
In their March 6 statements, the Prosecutor-General’s Office and Interior Ministry said that one of the rehabilitation center's patients, Mahammad Mammadov, who did not want to be treated in the facility, started the fire trying to kill himself.
According to the statements, the suspect, who was detained on March 3, was undergoing treatment at the drug rehabilitation center for mental and behavioral disorder caused by alcoholism.
He was charged with premeditated murder, murder of helpless individuals, and damaging other people's property, the statements say.
The one-floor wooden building of the center was hit by the deadly fire at 6:10 a.m. on March 2, killing 25 people. Thirty-four people were rescued, three of whom remain in hospital.
Earlier reports said that the blaze might have been caused by a short circuit.
