A woman and four of her children died in an early morning apartment fire in Komsomolsk-on-Amur on October 8. Investigators opened a criminal negligence case as emergency crews worked to establish the cause of the blaze, while neighbors managed to rescue two other children from the fourth-floor unit before firefighters arrived.
Early Morning Fire on Gamarnika Street Claims Five Lives
The tragedy unfolded in a multi-story residential building on Gamarnika Street in Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Regional authorities reported that the blaze erupted inside a fourth-floor apartment early in the morning, eventually consuming ten square meters of household belongings before fire crews extinguished the flames.
Firefighters took 43 minutes to completely suppress the fire according to the regional investigative service. When emergency personnel cleared the smoke-filled rooms, they discovered the bodies of five people: the mother and four of her children.
Neighbors Rescue Two Children Before Fire Crews Arrive
Quick action by residents living nearby prevented a higher death toll. While the mother and six children were inside the apartment when the blaze began, neighbors managed to pull two minors to safety before professional firefighters reached the scene.
The two survivors, young girls, were rushed to the hospital for medical evaluation.
Dmitry Demeshin said that the condition of one of them is of moderate severity, and the second girl is out of danger,
adding, I have instructed the regional Ministry of Health to provide them with all necessary medical care and support.
Medical staff confirmed that one of the girls is in moderate condition while the second is out of danger as regional health authorities coordinate ongoing care.
Russia Opens Criminal Case into Fatal Blaze
The Investigative Committee of Russia for Khabarovsk Krai and the Jewish Autonomous Region formally initiated a criminal case under part 3 of article 109 of the Criminal Code, which addresses the causing of death by negligence to two or more persons.
Investigators and specialists from the state fire supervision department began inspecting the scene to determine how the fire started. Authorities appointed fire-technical, forensic medical, and criminalistic examinations to clarify the exact sequence of events that led to the fatal blaze.