Jump to full article: BBC Online, 2007-02-27
Author: Laura Sheeter BBC News, Riga
Intro: Latvia is holding a day of mourning for the 25 people who died in the country's worst fire since independence in 1991.
The fire last Friday destroyed a care home for the disabled.
The Latvian flag is flying at half-mast on all official buildings, and flags decorated with mourning ribbons are being flown across the country.
It is thought the blaze was started by either an electrical fault or a discarded cigarette. . . .
at an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Monday, the Latvian welfare minister said it was more likely that someone smoking in bed on the building's third floor was to blame.
Leading politicians, including Prime Minister Aigars Kalvitis, called for an immediate ban on smoking in all the country's medical facilities.
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