Sister recounts tragedy after Prokopyevsk sauna fire kills five teens

A horrific tragedy in a sauna in Prokopyevsk last night claimed the lives of five teenagers who were relaxing there. The publication kuzbass.aif.ru on Sunday, February 1, spoke with a close relative of the girl who managed to escape from the burning building and learned the details of what happened.

A call reporting a fire at a private sauna in Prokopyevsk came into the duty station at 8:22 p.m. Forty firefighters battled the blaze for an hour, after which they discovered the bodies of five young people inside the establishment.

According to the older sister of the 16-year-old girl who managed to escape from the burning sauna, the group of young people had gathered to celebrate three birthdays at once — those of two girls who died and one of the boys.

As the publication«s interviewee says, in the midst of the celebration, the establishment»s administrator ran to the teenagers and informed them of the fire. After that, the younger sister of the girl, holding wet shorts to her face, ran to the exit and managed to get outside before the fire and acrid smoke engulfed the premises. Medics examined the student, but she refused to go to the hospital.

«She is still in shock, all her close friends died. Yesterday it was terrible to look at her. Today is already better. The others panicked, jumped into the pool, and suffocated,» the relative of the survivor said.

In addition, a former teacher of the kids also spoke with the editorial staff. The five teenagers studied in the same class and were very close. Three of them stayed after the ninth grade, while two girls, including the one who managed to escape from the sauna, continued their studies at a local physical education technical school. There, they met a boy whose seventeenth birthday they were celebrating. He became the fifth victim of the tragedy.

«Her best friend. He celebrated New Year with us. I feel very sorry for him, a very good boy. They met in college, they were classmates,» the sister of the surviving girl recalls.

Before the sauna started burning, the young people were taking photos by the pool and also recording videos. The Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case for providing services that do not meet safety requirements for consumers« lives, resulting in the death of two or more persons.

Simultaneously, the regional prosecutor«s office is conducting an inspection of compliance with fire safety standards at the establishment. Probably, faulty wiring is to blame for the fire.

The governor of Kuzbass, Ilya Seredyuk, expressed deep condolences to the relatives and loved ones of the deceased. He assured that all affected families will be provided with necessary material and psychological assistance.

The editorial staff of NGS42.RU reported on the incident at the sauna and showed photos of the premises where everything happened.