Children’s ombudsman outlines support after deadly Komsomolsk-on-Amur fire

The family that lost a mother and four children in a fire in Komsomolsk-on-Amur had 14 children, Khabarovsk region children’s ombudsman Pyotr Perevezentsev told RIA Novosti. A neighbour rescued two girls.

The fire broke out early on October 8 in a residential building on Gamarnika Street. Firefighters found the bodies of a woman and four of her children. A neighbour saved two girls aged six and ten. The regional governor promised to personally honour him for the rescue.

Perevezentsev said relatives remained who could take in the rescued girls, so there were no plans to place them in a children’s home. The ombudsman also said their father had died during military operations.

The regional Investigative Committee opened a case under Part 3 of Article 109 of the Russian Criminal Code, concerning negligent homicide of two or more people. Expert examinations were ordered to establish the cause of the fire. The cited statement did not identify what caused it.