Woman, 32, and her three children die in Bologna home fire

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 15 - A 32-year-old Romanian woman and her three young children dies in a fire in their flat in Bologna Friday morning.
    The woman, Stefania Alexandra Nistor, died on her way to hospital while the two girls and a boy died in the flat of smoke inhalation from a stove in the bedroom they all shared, police said.
    The elder girl was six and the younger one two, as was the boy, her twin.
    The elder girl was called Giorgia Alexandra Panaite, and the twins Mattia Stefano and Giulia Maria.
    The children's Romanian father, Alexandru Panaite, who was separated from their mother, was at work when the tragedy happened.
    He fell ill with a bad turn after the tragedy and was taken to the Maggiore hospital in Bologna for examination, where he was said to be comfortable.
    The man, separated from Nistor, had reached the flat in the night, together with the grandparents of the children.
    Deputy Bologna Police Superintendent Pierluigi Pinto said: "The fire was most likely generated by an electrical system where a heating appliance had been connected.
    "The result was a short circuit and from the initial checks made by the fire brigade it would appear to be entirely accidental".
    When the fire brigade arrived at the flat on the fourth floor, in a building of eight, in Via Bertocchi in Bologna, they found a room saturated with smoke.
    The intervention of the fire brigade, with the Fire Investigation Unit, took place shortly before one o'clock and was concluded around five o'clock.
    Bologna Mayor Matteo Lepore said "I express my profound grief and condolences from the city for this terrible tragedy, which cut off the lives of a young family." A woman neighbour told reporters: "Stefania was a very polite and kind girl, it was a beautiful family.
    "She was separated from her husband but they had a nice relationship, the children were happy and content." Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi said "I am deeply grief-stricken by the passing of a woman and her three children which happened because of a fire that occurred overnight in an apartment in Bologna.
    "I express to the family my sympathies and my condolences, and I thank the operators of the fire department and the police forces which intervened promptly at the location of the tragedy".
    (ANSA).