Kiev - Nine people died and 11 were injured Thursday after an explosion and fire ripped through a slot-machine gambling hall in eastern Ukraine, news reports said. The blast occurred shortly after midnight in a casino in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk, Channel 5 television said.
Eight people died at the scene. Another victim succumbed later despite emergency medical treatment, the report said.
Two of the victims, reportedly female casino employees, died from smoke inhalation. Burns accounted for the rest of the fatalities, Channel 5 television reported.
One of the 11 injured was listed as being in a serious condition in a Dnipropetrovsk hospital, according to the report.
More than 60 people were in the casino at the time of the explosion, most watching a football game on television, said Volodymyr Shandra, head of Ukraine's Ministry of Emergency Situations, on an Inter television news report.
Firefighters took an hour to put out the fire. Failure to call the fire department quickly may have been a contributing factor in the death toll, Shandra said.
It remained unclear whether the explosion was caused by a bomb or was an accident, but an initial search of the premises by firefighters found no signs of explosive devices, police said.
Police investigating the scene said the explosion and fire appeared to have begun in a slot machine. Faulty wiring in the machine also could have been a factor in the explosion, officials said.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko cancelled an official visit to the Czech Republic and flew to Dnipropetrovsk in the afternoon, to head up assistance to the injured and an investigation into the incident.
All casinos, night clubs, and establishments containing slot machines in Dnipropetrovsk province would be closed pending the results of the investigation, said Viktor Bondar, Dnipropetrovsk province chairman, according to an Interfax news agency report.
Organized crime attacks and accidentally broken gas mains are the primary causes of explosions in Ukrainian buildings. Criminal groups in Ukraine often engage in deadly conflicts over control of the gambling business.
