Forest fires in Russia’s Kurgan region have killed 21 people, TASS reports, citing medical services. The news agency notes that the death toll may increase.
Baza reported earlier that 14 people had been killed in the Kurgan region, including seven in the locality of Yuldus that had been destroyed by the fire almost completely. The regional government has decided that families of the deceased will receive payouts worth 1,000,000 rubles (€11.800) each, and all the affected will receive 10,000 rubles (~€120) in payouts regardless.
According to TASS estimates, the fires have destroyed almost 5,700 buildings in all of the Urals Federal District, the Kurgansk region being affected the most, suffering from a fire that spread around 18,000 hectares.
Russia’s Emergency Ministry has said in a statement that 46 alleged arsonists had been detained since the start of 2023, and some of those were children. A total of seven criminal cases have been opened.
Wildfires have been present in the Kurgansk regions since late April. The regions of Khabarovsk, Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Amur, and Omsk are also on fire. A total of 176 thousand hectares of wildforest has been affected by the fire in the Birobidzhan region, or 8% of all forests in the region, Sibir.Realii reports. A total of 389 hectares of wild forests has been destroyed nationwide in 2023 so far.