Illegal Hostel Fire Kills Eight in Riga, Latvia

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Looking through some news on the Internet my eyes noticed a picture of a street I have walked along thousands of times. It is located in the capital on Merkela Street and when firefighters arrived the sixth floor and roof were on fire. Eight people have died and 24 rescued as well as nine people injured among them six requiring hospitalization. This is the biggest problem facing people who visit Riga. There are many lovely hotels in the city itself and also in the surrounding suburbs but people who travel want to save money and so the least expensive places to stay are the hostels. I have seen many of them lining this street and not one of them seemed like a good place to stay, This tragedy was waiting to happen since this hostel was illegally opened in a state-owned building where the operators carried out unauthorized renovations. Most likely the victims were foreigners visiting the city and might be students since they lack the finances required to book the main hotels. Guess what the ad for the hostel said? “Japanese-style Centrum Riga” and said it had 22 rooms. And you know what? I don’t even understand that ad and it was lucky the fire did not spread to other buildings which are wall to wall with one another.