Local authorities at a penitentiary in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region in the Urals began an inspection of a penal colony on April 3 after a fire overnight.
The blaze at a residential barracks within the penal colony in the village of Bely Yar forced the evacuation of more than 100 prisoners.
Russian officials said the fire destroyed about 400 square meters of the two-story residential bloc.
There were no immediate reports of injuries from the fire.
Firefighters worked through the night and extinguished the blaze shortly after 3 a.m. on April 3.
