According to the Fire and Rescue Department, a fire at the property in the village of Budriai was reported at around 2 a.m. When firefighters arrived, two residents had already jumped out of the second floor and one exited the house via the first floor. Firefighters later found the bodies of a woman and three children inside.
Sarune Kalibaite, an elder of the town of Kavarskas, told BNS a baby born in October, two small children and a teenage girl died in the fire. In her words, the mother, her 16-year-old son and her partner managed to escape. The teenage girl was the son's girlfriend who lived together.
The family had a total of seven children, Kalibaite said. Two of them live abroad, and another girl attends a kindergarten in Panevezys on working days and returns home only on weekends.
"It was a big family with seven children. (…) It was not a family having a drinking problem, definitely not," she said.
An investigation is underway into the cause of the fire. Based on initial reports, a wood burner was being used at the house at around 11 p.m. on Tuesday.
President Gitanas Nauseda has extended his condolences over this incident. "It hurts especially when children's lives are taken. I am offering my deepest condolences to the relatives of those killed," the president posted on Facebook.