Police are still searching for two people missing in the fire which broke out in Kamien Pomorski, north western Poland, on Easter Sunday, killing at least 21 people.  

“There were 77 people registered in the building, 54 were injured and 21 died, which gives two people unaccounted for”, said police spokesman Maciej Karczynski.. 

It is possible that more than 77 people were staying in the building when the fire started. Only DNA tests will show for definitive how many people died in a fire.  

The Public Prosecutor's Office in the nearly coastal city of Szczecin is investigating the cause of the fire. So far it has not been established whether the fire broke out accidently or if it was the work of arsonists. “At the moment we are concentrating on identifying victims’ bodies, which is not easy - later we will investigate what caused the fire”, said Beata Nowakowska from the Prosecutor's Office.  

Eye witnesses claim that the rescue action was ineffective and the fire service badly prepared. More people’s lives could have been saved. “One of the firemen had problems with unfolding a ladder and when he finally managed to do it, it turned out that it was too short to reach second-floor flats,” said a witness. 

The fire service argue that they arrived at the scene very quickly and did their best to stop the fire and rescue people. (mh/pg)