5 teenagers die as drunken birthday party turns violent

Five teenagers died when a birthday party in Russia’s Irkutsk region erupted into violence after excessive alcohol consumption, local media reported on Wednesday.

“The dead are aged between 13 and 17 and include a girl,” the report said, citing a spokesman for the regional investigating committee.

According to the reports, a drunk youth attacked partygoers with a knife, killing four of them and injuring four more, some of them seriously.

He then set a garden hut alight, killing himself in the process.

The injured have been taken to a hospital in the city of Irkutsk.

The condition of one of them is reported to be critical.

Prosecutors have launched a murder investigation, and a three-day mourning period has been declared in the region.

dpa