MOSCOW -- A second Kyrgyz citizen has died from injuries suffered in a reported gas-tank explosion at an Italian restaurant in Moscow on January 9, RFE/RL's Kyrgyz Service reports.
Ayimkan Kulukeeva of the Kyrgyz Embassy in Moscow told RFE/RL on January 12 that Kyrgyz citizens Anvarjon Satvoldiev and Tolgonai Satybaldieva were killed in the blast. Initially only one Kyrgyz woman was reported killed in the incident.
Sergei Smirnov, a doctor at the Sklifosovski Medical Center, told RFE/RL that Kyrgyz citizens Marat Andabaev and Bakhtygul Kusheeva are currently in the special burn unit. Smirnov said their lives are not in danger.
Another Kyrgyz national, Feruza Satybaldieva, a sister of Satybaldieva, is also in the Sklifosovski Medical Center and is in stable condition. Three more Kyrgyz citizens, whose names were not given, are currently in serious condition in the intensive-care unit of Moscow's No. 36 health clinic.
Almaz Abdisyaev, an attorney for the Kyrgyz Embassy, told RFE/RL that both the Russian and Kyrgyz governments are providing all of the victims in the incident and their relatives with assistance.
Satybaldieva's husband, Esen Aliev, told RFE/RL that his wife used to work 12 hours a day in the Moscow restaurant. He said that since Kyrgyz and other Central Asians agree to work for low salaries with no legal residence and/or work permit, their rights are often abused.
"Our men working in that restaurant get 700 rubles ($22) per day and do several jobs; working as electricians, cleaners, loaders, and so on," Aliev said.
The explosion on January 9 killed at least three people and injured 39 others, including six Kyrgyz and five Armenians.
