site.btaFire Breaks Out in Odesa's Holy Iversky Men's Monastery, No Injuries Reported

A fire broke out in the dome of the Holy Iversky Men's Monastery in the Ukrainian Black Sea city of Odesa, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Odesa region reported on Tuesday. The probable cause of the fire is a lightning strike. 

A total of 49 firefighters were involved in extinguishing the fire in difficult conditions. The process was hampered by the inability of large fire engines to access the area. The firefighters installed a wheeled lift, thanks to which they quickly extinguished the fire in an area of 20 square metres and the fire did not cover the entire building.

No people were injured, the Emergency Service said.

Odesa Province is home to the third largest community of expatriate Bulgarians, numbering more than 150,000 people, according to an official population census in Ukraine in 2001. Between 50,000 and 60,000 Bulgarians live in the provincial capital, Odesa. Bulgarians in the province are concentrated in the districts of Bolhrad, Izmail, and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.