Monday, August 06, 2012 -
The man who was killed in a market fire in the south of Kazakhstan on Friday was a Kyrgyz citizen, the southern Kazakhstan department of internal affairs said Monday.
“The deceased was a 30-year-old citizen of Kyrgyzstan,” the KyrTAG news agency reported the agency as saying.
“His body was found on the second floor of the building.”
The deceased Kyrgyz is believed to have been a worker at the market.
A fire ravaged the Shymkent market in the early morning hours of Friday, displacing 3,000 angry traders who said they had just paid rent and taxes for their stalls.
Authorities said on Monday that they believe the cause of the fire to be intentionally set.
“Police found that the fire in the Bekzhan market arose as a result of arson,” the interior affairs department said.
Fifty-six investigators have thus far interviewed 15 of the 21 security guards assigned to the market.
The 43,000-square-foot market was the site of 7,000 retail outlets.