The rector of a Moscow university, where a predawn conflagration killed 38 foreign students and injured nearly 200 others, is now under criminal charges over the tragedy, the Moscow Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday.  

Dmitry Bilibin, principal of the Moscow People's Friendship University, is charged with "a violation of fire safety regulations that has entailed, due to negligence, the death of people," Interfax reported.

Russian officials attributed the causes of the deadly blaze breaking out in the early hours of last Monday to electric malfunction or unsafe use of household appliances in a dorm of the hostel that caught fire.

The renowned university was built in 1960 for training students from developing countries.

Bilibin, who offered his resignation from the post after the calamity, remains in office.

Last week, investigators interrogated Education Minister Vladimir Filippov, who headed the university before receiving his ministerial position.

Earlier, two other senior university staff members were questioned by detectives.

Russian authorities have promised after the fire to strengthen security measures in areas where domestic and international students reside.

(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2003)