Three Chinese women killed in Russia's Siberia

Three Chinese women reportedly missing were found dead in Russia's southern Siberian republic of Khakassia, local media reported Thursday.

The police found three charred bodies near a village in the republic late Wednesday soon after a Chinese woman reported that her three female compatriots went missing.

A preliminary investigation showed that the bodies were the three missing women in their 40s and 50s.

The Russian Interior Ministry said the Chinese women were taken away in a car by three unidentified men Tuesday night.

A criminal investigation was underway.

Guo Zhijun, consul general of the Chinese Consulate in Irkutsk, told Xinhua that Chinese diplomats were traveling to the Khakassia republic over the case.