5 people, which include a mother and her 5-year-old daughter, were boiled alive after a heated water pipe burst open as they slept at a hostel in Russia.
43-year-old Natalia Shats was staying in the hostel with Ekaterina Shats, her 5-year-old daughter, following a check-up after heart surgery at a nearby hospital when they were trapped in the torrent of scalding water.
3 other people suffered serious burn injuries after the pipe burst.
9 adults and 2 children were staying at the hostel when the incident happened.
The incident happened at a private owned Caramel Hostel in Perm, which is located near the Ural Mountains.
A father was also injured when he ran outside to bring his 3-year-old son to safety.
The hostel, occupying the ground floor and cellar of a residential building, had guests including relatives of patients that were receiving cancer treatment at a hospital in the city.
23-year-old Vadim Zhenikhov and Ekaterina Anikia, whose age was not shared with the public, sustained injuries from the incident.
The fifth person that sustained injuries is a woman whose identity was not shared with the public.
Andrey Babukov, a head doctor, said that a 33-year-old woman was admitted to the hospital with 35 percent burns.
The 33-year-old woman is reportedly in a grave condition.
33-year-old Maria Uzhegova, a victim, is reportedly in a grave condition.
35-year-old Oleg Uzhegov and 28-year-old Eduard Mezentsev also sustained injuries in the incident.
The doctor said, “We have (also) admitted a man, aged 35, with 20 percent burns, and another aged 28 with 15 percent burns.”
Images of the scene showed steam rushing out of the doors of the hostel.
Firefighters tried to pump the boiling water from the cellar, which was flooded at that time,
7 ambulances rushed to the scene to rush the injured at the scene, but 4 people were already dead when they arrived.
Rescuers also suffered burns when they were guiding the victims out of the hostel.
Igor Goncharov, the acting regional security minister, released a statement about the incident.
Igor said, “It is known that the cellar was flooded. Water was highly pressurised. All emergency services quickly arrived to the scene. The water is being pumped out now. Five bodies have already been found, three more people were injured, all of them are the guests of the hostel.”
According to a witness, the incident happened at around 4 am.
The witness said the steam started to pour out and the water went up to the front door of the hostel.
The cellar rooms did not have any windows, and there were no emergency exits for the residents that were trapped inside.