Three children and their mother died in a home fire in Bologna, northern Italy, on Thursday night, according to Italian police.
The deceased children were identified as a 6-year-old and her 2-year-old twins. The 32-year-old mother, of Romanian origin, also passed away on the way to the hospital.
According to officials, the fire that broke out during the night in via Bertocchi, on the outskirts of the Emilia-Romagna capital, may have been started by a short circuit caused by an electric heater, as early findings seem to confirm. The mother and her children had reportedly lived in the house for two years and were sleeping in the same room.
Firefighters were called to the scene about 1 a.m. by a neighbor living on an upper floor. When they broke into the fourth-floor apartment, they found a smoke-saturated room, which was probably the cause of the deaths.
“The fire was most likely generated by an electrical system where a heating appliance had been connected. A short circuit ensued, and from the initial checks made by the fire department it would appear to be entirely accidental,” explained Deputy Superintendent Pierluigi Pinto, director of the Due Torri-San Francesco Police Station.
Further inquiries are being conducted to determine the precise cause of the incident.
