Case on collapse of a house in Astrakhan stopped because of defendant's death

Today, the Soviet District Court of Astrakhan has ruled to stop the criminal case about the explosion in a nine-storey apartment building in February 2012, the collapse of which killed 11 persons, said Elena Yaroslavtseva, the spokesperson of the Astrakhan Regional Court.

On February 27, 2012, in Astrakhan, all the nine floors of a section of the house in Nikolai Ostrovsky Street collapsed. 11 people were killed. The main version was an explosion of household gas. There was also the version of a suicide attempt undertaken by one of the tenants. Later, the wife of the suspect Victor Chlenov said that he was unable to open the gas stove valves and blow up the house, because he was bedridden.

The above spokesperson has noted that the case could have been closed earlier, as the accused person was dead; however, his daughter insisted on his innocence and demanded rehabilitation of her father, the "Interfax" reports.

However, already at the preliminary hearing, the defendant's relatives agreed to the closure of the case without any rehabilitative decision; and the court dismissed the case against Chlenova, the RIA "Novosti" reports.