Three children died and another was fighting for his life after a fire ripped through a summer camp in the Russian far east in the early hours of Tuesday, the regional authorities said.
The blaze tore through a private children’s tent camp in the Khabarovsk region, destroying 20 tents and killing a girl on her 11th birthday.
Two other girls suffered extensive burns and later died in hospital, according to a spokeswoman for the regional authorities, Nadezhda Tomchenko.
“Their injuries were incompatible with life,” Tomchenko told AFP.
A boy was also in “a very bad condition and fighting for his life,” she added. “The situation does not look good.”
The camp was being attended by 189 children and teenagers aged between seven and 15.
Investigators launched a manslaughter investigation, and the director of the tent camp was detained.
Fires are common in Russia and often kill the most vulnerable due to negligence and disregard for safety rules.