The court case regarding the death of 13 people as a result of a fire in a hostel on Sharipov Street in Almaty has been completed. On November 7, 2025, the Appeals Board upheld the verdict. Details are in the “Truth in Details” program on the Jibek Joly TV channel, a Kazinform agency correspondent reports.
Chronicle of the tragedy
On November 30, 2023, at 5:33 am, the emergency department control panel received a message about a fire in the basement of a three-story residential building on Sharipov Street. The fire department arrived on the scene in seven minutes. The fire was extinguished at 6:22. According to investigators, the fire originated in the basement corridor and quickly spread to mattresses leaning against the wall. Acrid smoke quickly spread throughout all the rooms.
13 people died in the fire – two citizens of Uzbekistan, two citizens of Russia and nine Kazakh citizens. The youngest victim was 15 years old, the oldest was 39. 59 residents of the hostel managed to escape.
“My brother fought for his life, tried to get out, but the mattresses made it difficult to get through. If there weren’t those mattresses blocking the passages and safe exits, there wouldn’t be so many problems if fire safety requirements were met,” said one of the victims.
The mother of one of the victims noted that people could not be accommodated in the basement. Because there were no fire extinguishing means. In addition, there were mattresses there, obstructing escape routes, and there was an iron structure on the flight of stairs. People tried to get out of the room, but a fire in the form of mattresses stood in the way.
How the hostel worked
The hostel on Sharipova, 86 opened in October 2023 – only a month and a half before the tragedy. The premises were rented out as an “office”, but in fact they housed a hostel with six bedrooms for 48 people. The cost of living started from 2000 tenge.
Having rented a basement, Adilbek Mukhamedyarov carried out a redevelopment – erected partitions and installed doorways. However, the facility was never brought into compliance with fire safety requirements. These changes significantly worsened the conditions for the safe evacuation of people and reduced the effectiveness of automatic fire protection systems.
The only emergency exit was locked.
— At the time of opening, we warned about violations: beds were installed in three tiers in the room, and as a result, innocent people suffered. Control is carried out by different services – sanitary, fire, emergency, tax – each is responsible for its own area, and this is absolutely correct. If a business is not able to meet the established standards, it should close,” said Alexander Aknazarov, head of the “Hostels” section at the Kazakhstan Association of Hotels and Restaurants.
Charges and sentence
In the dock were the director of ALA Hostel Adilbek Mukhamediyarov and the owner of the Gidservice company Alexander Pekelnik, who was responsible for installing the fire alarm.
— Mukhamedyarov and Pekelnik were accused of preventing people from evacuating the building due to the fire. That is, Mukhamedyarov violated fire safety rules. The charge against Pekelnik has been changed – performing work that does not meet fire safety requirements,” said Zhanibek Mamytov, head of the public prosecution department of the Almaly district prosecutor’s office in Almaty.
The court found that the fire alarm in the hostel was installed with gross violations.
“The installation of the fire alarm system was carried out by persons without the necessary qualifications and permits to work with electrical equipment. The work did not correspond to the project, and after installation the alarm scheme was not drawn up, which confirms Pekelnik’s formal and irresponsible approach to his duties. The expert established that the sound signal level should be at least 75 dB, but in fact it ranged from 28.8 to 72.7 dB, and in residential and basement areas – from 28.8 to 58.2 dB, which was below the norm and did not provide timely warning in the event of a fire,” from the court verdict.
Instead of the required 86 fire detectors, only 42 were installed.
— The owner knew. At the same time, he himself did not appear at the site. The work was carried out by hired employees, added Zhanibek Mamytov.
The court found both defendants guilty of committing a criminal offense. There was no intent seen in their actions. The defendants did not admit guilt. Mukhamedyarov demanded a reduction in the punishment. Pekelnik denied his guilt completely.
— This was long before there was a hostel there. I didn’t know this room could be used in this way. This was a service provided by KUSA Halyk and they were completely satisfied with the work done. They signed the acceptance certificate and paid the entire amount under the contract. Everything was done as expected. I do not deny that there were certain shortcomings in the documents, but this has nothing to do with the hostel and the death of people. This was confirmed by both the specialists and the injured party, who renounced their claims against me. Everyone who participated in the trial saw that my involvement could not have happened,” said one of the defendants, Alexander Pekelnik.
Arson version
Even during the trial, Mukhamedyarov’s lawyer, Asylbek Abdraimov, raised the issue of possible deliberate arson. The injured party filed a motion to return the criminal case to the prosecutor, since the investigative team had previously isolated material from it on deliberate arson.
— And today a resolution was presented to find citizen T guilty of arson. That is, this man deliberately set fire to mattresses. Mattresses caught fire and people died in their sleep. The very fact of deliberate arson and non-compliance with fire safety requirements should be investigated in one case, in one proceeding,” said A. Mukhamedyarov’s lawyer Asylbek Abdraimov at the trial.
As one of the victims said, they could not find out the cause of the fire, although they had one specific suspect.
“We know that it was arson, and it’s a shame that they turned a blind eye to it.” Witnesses saw him. A very powerful company is clearly involved here. This is a very difficult loss – we won’t get our children and brothers back, but we want justice,” said one of the victims.
The investigation had to put forward two versions of the fire: arson and technical malfunction. Currently, the version of arson is highlighted in
separate production. A final assessment has not yet been given on it
Bottom line
Adilbek Mukhamediyarov was found guilty under Part 3 of Art. 292 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (violation of fire safety requirements resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence) and was sentenced to five years in prison. Alexander Pekelnik was convicted under Part 3 of Art. 306 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan for four years. Both were transferred to minimum security institutions.
“Subsequently, this charge was upheld by the appeal board on November 7, 2025,” noted Zhanibek Mamytov.
7 million tenge was recovered from those convicted in favor of the victims as compensation for moral damage, and compensation for material damage was also assigned.
The question of the cause of the fire – accident or deliberate arson – still remains open. The investigation is ongoing.
