"In May 17,386 fires happened in Russia, in which 1,083 people died and 958 suffered. Our rescuers saved over 5,500 people from fire", Beltsov said.
He added that, in comparison with May 2003, the number of fires country-wide reduced by 40 and victims by 20 percent.
According to the ministry, last month over 15,000 road traffic accidents, or 1.5 times more than a month before, were registered in Russia.
"2,080 people died and 13,773 suffered in the road accidents. 2,640 people were removed from the site", Beltsov said.
Last May almost 2,000 rescuers were on joint duty together with the road police officers, which boosted the rate of response to accidents on the road.
Last May the State Inspection for Small Vessels under the Emergency Situations Ministry registered over 200 accidents on waters, in which 182 people died and 80 suffered, Beltsov said.
According to rescuers, the number of accidents on waters increased by 13 percent from May and will further continue to go up in June, when the swimming season begins.
The ministerial spokesman said that in May field engineers rendered harmless over 5,500 explosive objects.
"Apart from that, 61 large calamities happened in Russia last May, in which 76 people died and 331 suffered", Beltsov said.
