Ombudsman Ceslav Panico will conduct his own inquiry into the fire that started at the Clinical Psychiatric Hospital in Codru town on October 27. Natalia Stati, press officer of the Chisinau Police Division, has told IPN that a number of patients at this hospital barricaded themselves inside and set fire to several mattresses. An investigation is underway.

The Ombudsman set up a special monitoring commission that consists of employees of the Ombudsman’s Office, members of the Council for Preventing Torture and representatives of specialized NGOs.

Ceslav Panico received a collective petition from a group of patients of the Clinical Psychiatric Hospital. As a result, a team of the Ombudsman’s Office made a surprise visit to the given hospital in June. There were formulated recommendations that were transmitted to the Ministry of Health and the Clinical Psychiatric Hospital for taking measures to remedy the situation. Many of the recommendations weren’t implemented, the Ombudsman’s Office noted in a press release.

A second-floor ward of the Clinical Psychiatric Hospital in Codru town of the municipality of Chisinau caught fire on Thursday morning. The persons were evacuated and the fire was put out by firefighters. No one was hurt in this.