The director of a car service was sentenced to prison for the death of a client in a fire.

The Perovsky Court of Moscow sentenced the director of the Leader-Profi car service center, where two people died as a result of a devastating fire in January 2001. The investigation concluded that fire safety rules were violated at the auto repair shop, which led to tragic consequences.

As reported at the time “MK”, a fire in a car service center on Rassvetnaya Alley occurred on January 6, at the height of the working day. The technicians were repairing a Volvo car that had a faulty fuel pump. During the repair process, the mechanic spilled approximately 200 grams of gasoline on the floor. There was sawdust on the floor and the fuel immediately caught fire. The workers tried to put out the fire with fire extinguishers, but the service center created ideal conditions for the spread of fire – flammable materials were stored, the decoration was made of dangerous plastic… Very quickly the flames engulfed the entire service center. One of the employees died, as well as the owner of the Nissan car. He arrived for service shortly before the fire, went up to the second floor, to the client room, but was never able to leave. The man had problems with his legs due to his impressive weight, and besides, the exit and service area was blocked by a burning Volvo. The fire also destroyed several vehicles.

The service director tried to prove that his employees had repeatedly undergone fire safety training. However, the masters themselves did not confirm this. The entrepreneur also insisted that the car service operated without forming a legal entity, so he cannot be held responsible for what happened. But the court did not take these arguments into account either. The businessman was found guilty of providing services that did not meet safety requirements and resulted in death. The court sentenced him to 2.5 years of forced labor with the deduction of 5% of his salary to the state income. The servants of Themis took into account that the businessman provided charitable assistance to the participants of the SVO, and his wife’s parents were disabled.