MOSCOW, May 13 (RAPSI) – Russia’s Federal Supervisory Agency for Healthcare (Roszdravnadzor) suspended exploitation of medical ventilators Aventa-M which had caused fires in two hospitals in Moscow and St. Petersburg  on May 9 and 12, the watchdog’s press service reports Wednesday.

The agency’s head Alla Samoylova has ordered cessation of using lung ventilators produced since April 1 by the Urals instrument-making plant, the statement reads.

On May 9, the blaze happened in Moscow’s clinical hospital named after S.I. Spasokukotsky. One person died.

Several days later, on May 12, the fire blamed in the St. George hospital in St. Petersburg and resulted in the death of 5 persons. The governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Beglov said that the fire was allegedly caused by the electrics short-circuit; one of the ventilators flamed up.