Murder of family shocks Israel

A gruesome tragedy rocked Israel on Saturday, when police found the bodies of six people in a torched apartment in Rishon Lezion. A toddler and a 3-month-old baby were among the dead.

Six members of the Oshrenko family were found dead on Saturday. The deceased were part of a Russian family that immigrated to Israel in the early 1990s. An initial investigation revealed that the victims died of stab wounds before the apartment was set on fire.

Edward Oshrenko is believed to have owned several successful clubs that are frequented by Russian-immigrant Israelis, according to IsraelNN.com.

The victims were grandparents Edward and Ludmila, their son Dmitry and his wife Tatiana, and two grandchildren, 3-year-old Revital and 4-month-old Netanel.

The incident is being treated as a homicide.

One version of the investigation says that the murderer tried to set the apartment on fire in order to destroy evidence. The knife used by him or her was not found in initial searches.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu asked Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovich to update him on the investigation.