MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Almost 660 people lost their homes in fires affecting six settlements in Russia’s Sverdlovsk Region, an emergencies official told TASS on Wednesday.

"A total of 178 buildings, including 134 homes, went up in flames in the Sosva, Tayozhny, Visim, Neustroyeva, Karpinsk and Progress settlements. As many as 659 people, among them 148 children, were left homeless," the official said, adding that the fire victims were currently staying with their families and friends.

The fires in Sosva, Tayuzhny, Visim, Neustroyeva and Progress have been contained, while the fire in Karpinsk has been extinguished. The Sosva fire killed a man born in 1961. Two criminal cases were opened into the fire.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry’s task force led by Deputy Emergencies Minister Ilya Denisov, who is in charge of the ministry’s main fire department, has arrived in the region.