Moscow: Atleast 36 foreign students were killed and 170 injured, including Indians, when a fire in the wee hours today (November 24) ripped through a 'quarantine' dormitory crowded by freshers who had recently arrived for studies in a university in Moscow.

The fire broke out in the five-storey dormitory of the People's Friendship University at 02:00 hrs local time (04:30 hrs IST) when most of the students were fast asleep. It took nearly three and a half hours for the fire fighters to extinguish the blaze.

ITAR-TASS newsagency said that, while 28 badly burnt bodies were recovered from the hostel, three died after they were taken out of the building and one succumbed to injuries on way to hospital.

Fifty of the injured were in serious condition, NTV television reported.

There were casualties among students from India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, China, Japan, Malaysia, Palestine and several African and Central Asian countries, it said.

All the injured had been admitted to various hospitals in the city, it said.

Deputy Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said there were no signs "of criminal evidence" and most likely cause was a faulty electric appliance.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered an inquiry into the tragedy.

PTI