KHABAROVSK, Russia -- A sports camp for children in Russia's Far Eastern Khabarovsk Krai region has been shut down and an investigation launched after a young boy was hospitalized after being severely beaten.
Officials of the Investigative Committee’s directorate in the region told RFE/RL on July 26 that an 11-year-old boy was beaten and thrown into a trench by a group of children at the Spetsnaz-Deti (Special Military Force -- Children) camp.
The boy, whose identity was not disclosed, was rushed to a hospital in the regional capital, Khabarovsk, with a broken back and head injuries after he managed to call his parents in the Jewish Autonomous Region in south Siberia.
An official for the Investigative Committee said a probe has been launched into the incident and those suspected of administering the beating have been identified.
The Investigative Committee has also launched a probe against the officials of the camp, who are suspected of "failing to meet safety requirements while providing services," the official said.
The camp's website says its main goal is to help children addicted to computer games "to forget about their gadgets" and "experience the real life" of military personnel.
The same day when the boy was beaten, another tent camp for children in the same region was hit by a fire that killed four campers.
That camp's director and the director of the company that owned the camp are being held in pretrial detention on charges of manslaughter and failing to meet safety requirements while providing services.
An employee of the Emergency Situations Ministry in the region was also arrested over the deadly fire after he was charged with negligence.
