A regional children’s rights ombudsperson said the girls would not be placed in an orphanage after a fire killed their mother and four siblings.
Two girls rescued from a fire in Komsomolsk-on-Amur are not expected to be placed in an orphanage, Khabarovsk Krai children’s rights ombudsperson Petr Perevezentsev told RIA Novosti. He said relatives were available to take them in.
The fire broke out early on Oct. 8 in a residential building on Gamarnika Street. Firefighters found the bodies of the girls’ mother and four of her children. A neighbor managed to rescue two other children, aged six and 10.
Perevezentsev said the girls’ father had died during Russia’s special military operation. The regional Investigative Committee said it had opened a criminal case under Part 3 of Article 109 of the Russian Criminal Code, which covers causing the deaths of two or more people through negligence. Examinations have been ordered to determine the cause of the fire.
Khabarovsk Krai Governor Dmitry Demeshin said he would personally reward the man who rescued the girls. The report did not give a timetable for the girls’ move to relatives.