MOSCOW, December 24. /TASS/. Another two bodies were found during the inspection of the scene of a fire in a social shelter in Kemerovo in Western Siberia, bringing the death toll to 22, the press office of Russia’s Investigative Committee reported on Saturday.

"As reported earlier, a fire broke out overnight to Saturday, December 24, 2022, in a private house equipped for accommodation in Kemerovo. According to the latest data, the remains of two more people were found during the inspection of the scene of the incident. The number of people who lost their lives rose to 22. Another six people were injured and two of them were hospitalized with severe burns," the Investigative Committee sad in a statement.

Russia’s Investigative Committee Chairman Alexander Bastrykin has sent a team of experts from the central office to help investigate the incident, the press office said.

"Criminal law experts from the central office and the staff of the Russian Investigative Committee’s forensic study center have been dispatched," the statement says.

As the local media outlets reported earlier on Saturday, the house where the fire broke out accommodated a shelter for homeless people, which was maintained by Evangelical Church pastor Andrey Smirnov. The same house also accommodated the pastor’s animal feed store.

As the law-enforcement agencies reported, the shelter had been organized illegally. The fire swept an area of 196 square meters and the whole first floor of the two-story wooden building completely burnt out. According to preliminary information, the improper operation of a stove caused the fire.

Detectives have opened a criminal case under part 3, article 109 (‘Causing Death to Two or More People Through Negligence’), part 3, article 293 (‘Negligence’) and part 3, article 238 of Russia’s Criminal Code (‘Provision of Services Failing to Meet Safety Requirements’), the press office said.