Russia's healthcare regulator on Wednesday ordered a stop to the use of ventilators believed to have caused two fires at coronavirus hospitals that left six people dead.
The federal regulator Roszdravnadzor "has halted the use on Russian territory of... Aventa-M ventilators produced from April 1, 2020" by a Urals factory, part of the state conglomerate Rostec.
The devices were used to treat patients in hospitals in Moscow and Saint-Petersburg where fires broke out over past week, a statement said.
The fire in Moscow's Spasokukotsky hospital killed one person last week, while a blaze in a medical facility in Saint Petersburg Tuesday left five dead.
Russia's deputy prime minister overseeing healthcare, Tatiana Golikova, said Tuesday that investigators are looking into the circumstances of the fires.
Rostec said last month its factories would produce 6,711 ventilators to treat virus patients, though it was not clear how many of these were the Aventa-M model.
The ventilators were also part of a Russian aid shipment to the United States on April 1.
However a spokesman for the US Federal Emergency Management Agency, which received the supplies, told TASS agency that the ventilators have not been used.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Ukrainian Drones Target Oil Refinery, Power Plants Near Moscow, Says Russia Ukraine Launched Overnight Drone Attack, Says Russia Amid Raging War India Now A Major Geopolitical Actor: Ex-Singapore Diplomat On PM's Russia-Ukraine Visit Celebrated "Russian Spy" Whale Hvaldimir Found Dead In Norway: Report INDIA's "Hit With Footwear" Protest In Mumbai Over Shivaji Statue Collapse Nurse Molested By Patient During Late Night Shift At West Bengal Hospital Who Was Hersh Goldberg-Polin, US Citizen Who Was Killed By Hamas In Gaza UGC NET June Re-Exam 2024: Admit Cards For 4 Centers Released Red Alert In 11 Telangana Districts As Heavy Rain Causes Flooding Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.