‘River of fire’ kills 7

A Russian drone attack on a gas station in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine caused a “river of fire” that burned seven people to death.

“In five minutes we had a river of fire. We had to run away from home, just run away,” Oleskandr Lagutin, who was injured in the attack, said.

Local authorities said the fire killed a couple and a family of five.

“My mother-in-law called and said it was burning,” said Natalia, a relative of the deceased couple.

“She called back and started screaming that it had spread to the house. We heard the last screams and that was it, she didn’t get in touch anymore,” she said.

The Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov said the dead family included the parents and their seven-year-old, four-year-old and seven-month-old boys.

The mother had sought shelter with her boys in the bathroom, while the man’s body was found in a passage of the house, he said.

The prosecutor later said the deceased mother, Olga Putyatina, was 35-years-old worked at the regional prosecutors office and was on maternity leave.

“These children had not yet seen life, but were killed as a result of Russian madness,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

He sent his condolences to all the victims of the attack.

About 3,800 tons of fuel were stored in the oil depot that was hit, Bolvinov said.

WITH AFP