MOSCOW (Reuters) – Five people, including a child, were killed in the Russian city of Perm on Monday when a hot water pipe exploded overnight and flooded a basement hotel room with water boiling.

At least three other people were taken to hospital with burns after the incident at the Mini Hotel Caramel, located in the basement of a residential building, the region’s commission of inquiry said.

A doctor treating the victims, Andrei Babikov, said a 33-year-old woman had burns covering 35% of her body. Two men aged 28 and 35 were in less serious condition.

Regional Governor Maxim Reshetnikov said it was a “terrible accident”.

“We will make the necessary checks with law enforcement and surveillance services,” he said on Instagram. “Special thanks go to the rescuers, who were themselves burned while removing people. “

A video posted on social media showed thick steam rising from the hotel entrance in the early hours of Monday morning, in the presence of emergency services.

Investigators have opened a criminal investigation to establish whether the deaths were due to negligence.

The RIA news agency reported that the exploding heating pipe had been working since 1962 and had broken several times in the past, citing a source from the Perm emergency services.

“There have been no casualties in the previous blasts,” the source said. “It was not replaced, only repaired.”