MOSCOW, September 13 (RIA Novosti) - A fire that broke out at the headquarters of a military unit in western Russia killed five and injured seven servicemen, the regional emergencies department said on Sunday.

"An alarm call about a fire at the headquarters of a military unit of the Russian Defense Ministry was received this morning. As a result of the fire, five people died and seven others received injuries of various gravity," the emergencies department said.

All the persons who died or were injured in the fire were soldiers and officers of the Russian Defense Ministry's main intelligence department, with which the military unit was affiliated, the department said.

Commander of the Moscow Military District Col.-General Valery Gerasimov has left for Tambov as head of the commission to investigate the causes of the fire, the district's spokesman said.

Poor fire safety in many of Russia's dilapidated buildings is frequently the cause of fires.