Kemerovo Mall Fire (Russia)
Channel: Q&A News
Date: 26/03/2018

On Sunday, March 25, 2018, At least 64 people were killed & at least 41 children have been reported missing by relatives, after a fire engulfed the busy Winter Cherry shopping mall in Kemerovo, Kemerovo Oblast, Siberia, Russia.

Update: Tuesday, March 27, 2018

The fire in the Winter Cherry mall has killed at least 64 people, & many of them were children, a list of victims posted at a headquarters set up by relatives indicated that 41 children were among the dead.

Investigators have said that at the Winter Cherry mall fire exits were blocked, the public address system had been shut off by a guard, & the fire alarm system was out of service.

Thousands of people have demonstrated in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, demanding answers & calling for the regional government's resignation, demonstrators demanded the ouster of Kemerovo region Governor Aman Tuleyev; who has been governor of the coal-mining region in central Siberia since 1997.

President Vladimir Putin echoing the words of angry residents; blamed "criminal negligence" & "slovenliness" for the disaster & promised that those found responsible would be punished.

Initial Reports: Sunday, March 25, 2018

"At this time, we can confirm the deaths of 37 people in the fire at the Kemerovo shopping centre", Russia's Investigative Committee said, according to TASS news agency.

Investigators had initially reported five people dead including a child & another 30 people injured & taken to hospital.

As the new death toll was announced, a source in the local rescue services said 69 people including 40 children were reported missing, the RIA Novosti agency reported, while the Investigative Committee said it was "verifying information that 35 people could be missing."

The preliminary findings of the inquiry said the fire started around 11:00 GMT in one of the cinema halls & destroyed more than 1,000 square metres of the centre.

"The roof collapsed in two theatres in the cinema," the Investigative Committee said.

Around 120 people had been evacuated from the burning centre, rescuers said.

"This shopping centre on several floors was packed with people mid-day Sunday. No one knows exactly how many people there were inside when the fire broke out," Alexandre Eremeyev, an official with the local Russian emergency services ministry, said in a statement.

"Where to look for people? How many are there? That has greatly complicated the work of the firefighters," he said, adding that the thick smoke was also hindering their task.

Some 300 firefighters & rescue personnel were rushed to the scene & the fire was brought under control around 1730 GMT, local emergency officials said.

Russia's minister of emergency services, Vladimir Putchkov has gone to Kemerovo, RIA Novosti said.

Location: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kemerovo,+Kemerovo+Oblast,+Russia/

Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/25/37-dead-scores-missing-siberia-shopping-centre-fire/
Source: https://www.rt.com/news/422289-children-missing-kemerovo-mall-blaze/

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