The fire at the psycho-neurological clinic, which was located in the southern region of Kemerovo, left eight people dead with six others injured, a government spokesman was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

But the region's governor Aman Tuleyev put the number of dead as seven and injured as 11, local RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Of the 223 patients in the building, 10 were still missing, said Tuleyev. But he noted that fire fighters had found no one else in the building and thus the missing ones may have left before the fire.

The two-story brick house was built during World War II, said the governor, adding however it was completely renovated two years ago.

The fire was already under control, while the cause of the fire was still under investigation, said officials.

The fire came just a day after another fire on early Saturday at a drug treatment hospital in southwestern Moscow in which up to 45 people were killed.

Sources close to the investigation told Interfax that Saturday's fire may be an arson committed by a female patient, a drug addict, who was seeking revenge after doctors refused to give her drugs.