Fire in Russian military hostel kills eight

Moscow, May 22 (UNI) Eight servicemen, including two children, died in a fire that broke out in the dormitory of the Russian Airborne Troops in the Shehelkovsky district early today.

''The fire broke out at an Airborne Troops hostel in the town of Medvezhyi Ozyora last night,'' a headquarters spokesman told Interfax news agency, adding that all victims of fire lived in the hostel.

The one-floor family hostel in Medvezhy Ozera, about 60 km North-East of Moscow, was home to 54 people, including 38 military servicemen.

The fire was put out in forty minutes, but the hostel building burnt almost completely, the spokesperson of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry Irina Andrianova told Itar-Tass news agency.

Military prosecutors have opened an investigation into the incident, a local prosecutor said.

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