6-year-old dead, siblings critical after playing with matches

While a single mother of three was taking a bath in an outhouse, her three children caused a house fire. Aged six, four and one, the three young children were alone inside the home in Ukraine when the incident took place. The curious children found a box of matches and started playing with it. Eventually, it led to a big blaze. The six-year-old boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning. The four-year-old boy suffered severe burns while the one-year-old girl also suffered carbon monoxide poisoning. 27-year-old Tatiana might face five-years-in prison for the accident.

Tatiana had left her children inside the home unsupervised for around 20 minutes. She was in the outhouse taking a bath while the children were in the home playing. During her absence, the children found a box of matches. While playing with the matches, they reportedly set fire to a pile of rubbish they found in the room.

When Tatiana returned to the home, she found the room filled with black smoke. She stated that she found the children unconscious on the floor. She took the children out of the room and tried to resuscitate them. The younger boy's clothes had caught fire due to which 25 percent of his body was burnt. The young girl survived carbon monoxide poisoning. The children were rushed to a hospital in the neighbouring city of Dnipro.

The older child, however, did not recover from the carbon monoxide poisoning. The younger siblings remain critical while receiving treatment at the hospital. Medics stated that the younger boy would require multiple surgeries and years of treatment to recover from the burns, The Sun reported.

A neighbour of the family stated that the mother had bought the house several months ago. According to the neighbour, Tatiana kept her children well-fed and clean. Moving from the war-torn eastern regions, the single mother had bought the home in the village of Verkhivtseve, central Ukraine.

Police have launched a criminal investigation against Tatiana. She may be charged with failure to fulfill parental duties. If found guilty of the charges, the mourning mother might face five years in prison.