A man was rushed to the hospital in a serious condition after he inhaled carbon monoxide in a fire in his apartment. He was saved by neighbors who saw smoke coming out and alerted the rescuers. Press officer of the Civic Protection and Emergencies Service Diana Turcan has told IPN that carless smoking is the preliminary cause of fire.

In the afternoon of November 19, dwellers of a building located on Mihai Eminescu St in Balti municipality smelt smoke and called the firefighters. When on the spot, the firemen forced the door of an apartment situated on the third floor, from where the smoke was coming out, and found a man lying unconscious in the corridor. The man suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. A SMURD team gave him first aid and took him to the Balti Hospital. The 47-year-old man was the owner of the apartment. An investigation is under way.

As many as 100 people were killed in fires in Moldova so far this year.