Fire Kills 5 Girls in Astana, Sparks Outrage

AKIPRESS.COM - Funeral service of 5 sisters who were killed in a house fire in Astana is set for February 5, the Kazakh capital's administration announced.

The accident which killed 5 girls born in 2006, 2008, 2013, 2015, and 2018 occurred in the Koktal-1 residential area on February 4 night. The oldest daughter was about to turn 13, the youngest was just 3 months old.

The house was heated by the coal stove. The children were left unattended, because both parents worked to provide their children: mother works at a plastic card factory, the father works at the auto workshop.

The family was not registered as needy, though they received state allowances for having many children. They lived in Astana for 10 years.

Preliminary cause of fire is violation of fire safety rules. Investigation is under way.

Following the tragedy, Astana mayor Bahyt Sultanov...