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A deadly fire has ripped through a drug abuse treatment center in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital killing 24 people early on Friday, officials from the General Prosecutor's office say.

Television pictures from local media showed the fire leaping through closed windows of single-storey buildings.

A joint statement from the General Prosecutor's Office, the health, interior and emergencies ministries read: "At 06:10 am a fire happened at the Republican Narcological Centre in Baku. The bodies of 24 people have been found." It added that the inferno tore through a one-storey wooden ward. 

A defect in the power grid of the building containing the center is said to be the cause of the fire. 

Spokesperson for the General Prosecutor's office, Eldar Sultanov, said 31 people had been rescued during the incident. The fire has now been put out by firefighters and rescue workers who are also investigating the causes.

Local media says Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev is visiting the scene