DAY OF MOURNING FOR SHIP FIRE VICTIMS ANNOUNCED IN KALININGRAD

KALININGRAD, June 8 (Itar-Tass) - A day of mourning for eight people who died in a fire that broke out on commercial ship at Baltic dockyard near Kaliningrad has been announced in the Kaliningrad region on June 8. The state flags of the Russian Federation and the flags of the Kaliningrad region are flying at half-mast, all entertainments and television programs have been cancelled. The celebration of the Day of Social Welfare Workers, which Russia will mark on June 8, has been postponed to a later date. Festivities to mark the opening of a resort season in Svetlogorsk, the Baltic Sea coast, have also been cancelled. Georgy Boss, the governor of the Kaliningrad region, said on Sunday that the tragedy on the Yenisei cargo ship was tragic not only for the dockyard in Baltiisk. It's a tragedy for the entire region. A fire broke out after an explosion on Thursday afternoon on a commercial ship under repairs at a naval dockyard in Baltiysk, Russia's Baltic exclave region of Kaliningrad. To localize the blaze, the dockyard brought in firefighting units of the Baltic Fleet. The fire claimed eight lives. Two people are still missing. Three workers are in hospital with various injuries. Doctors say their lives are out of danger. The Yenisei belongs to the Enex Company based in St Petersburg. The ship has the water displacement of 1,659 tons and the size of 82 meters by 11.6 meters. Apart from the naval firefighters, a total of 45 rescuers from the Emergencies Ministry's system were brought into the operation. The fire spread over an area of 500 square meters and the operation to/extinguish it continued at the time of reporting. Vladimir Vysotsky, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, believes that the reason behind the accident on the Yenisei cargo ship was/gross violation safety rules during welding works by the administrations.of the ship and the dockyard. On the day of mourning, all the residents of the Kaliningrad region will present their condolences to the families of the dead. Georgy Boss has promised to render material support to the families of the fire victims and help them solve their social and housing problems.