Fires kill at least 8 people in Siberia as high winds hamper rescue

A general view shows an area covered with smoke from wildfires in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, Russia, May 7, 2022. REUTERS/Alexander Manzyuk

(Reuters) - At least eight people died in Siberia on Saturday as fires ripped through hundreds of buildings in several villages, with high winds hampering efforts to extinguish the blazes.

In the Krasnoyarsk region, about 3,000 km (1,900 miles) east of Moscow, fires killed five people in 16 settlements across the Kazachinskoe and Sharypovsky districts, the local branch of Russia's Investigative Committee said in a statement, leading it to launch criminal proceedings for causing death by negligence.