Chinese officials left for Moscow yesterday morning to deal with the aftermath of a fatal dormitory fire there, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao Thursday.

Seven Chinese students are confirmed dead from Monday's blaze at the Moscow Patrice Lumumba People's Friendship University.

Forty-three other Chinese students are undergoing medical treatment and six are missing, said Liu.

The working group sent to Russia consists of staff from the Chinese Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Education.

Zheng Lizhong, a junior at Tsinghua University from East China's Zhejiang Province, and another Chinese student, survived the fire by copying what they had seen on TV and in movies, Xinhua News Agency reported.

They first ran to the stairwell, only to find the fire and smoke had spread there. They then ran back to their dorm room on the fourth floor, Zheng was quoted as saying.

"Like in many scenes in movies and on TV, we tied all the bedsheets, quilt covers and curtains together to make a rope. Then we broke the window, tied one end of the rope around the window sash, and climbed down along the rope to the second storey, where we jumped to the ground," said Zheng.

CCTV reported that at least 50 relatives have obtained Foreign Ministry documents to help them apply for visas at the Russian Embassy in Beijing.

Dmitry Bilibin, the rector of Moscow's People's Friendship University resigned Thursday, saying he bore responsibility for the dormitory.

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