Funerals in Russia after mall blaze in Siberia
RUSSIA on Wednesday held a day of mourning and held the first funerals for the victims of a fire that ravaged a shopping centre in Siberia and killed 64 people, most of them children.
Flags were lowered and entertainment events cancelled for the day of mourning, three days after the devastating blaze on Sunday in the city of Kemerovo.
It comes amid widespread public anger at the blatant safety violations at the mall where children were trapped in a locked cinema and the fire alarm system was broken. The youngest victim according to an official list published by Kemerovo authorities was a 2-year-old boy, while at least 19 of the 64 people killed were under 10.
Regional authorities have come in for criticism, since regional Governor AmanTuleyev – who lost his niece in the fire – has not visited the scene nor met angry residents.
In Kemerovo region, relatives on Wednesday were holding the first funerals for victims as 27 bodies have been identified. Among them were 57-year-old Nadezhda Agarkova who died with her two grandchildren Konstantin, 8, and Maria, 10, in the mall’s cinema, RIA Novosti state news agency reported.
On Tuesday Kemerovo residents came out on the main square in a rare protest, some holding placards and shouted slogans calling for the sacking of Tuleyev and of Putin.
A deputy governor responded by accusing some of seeking “publicity from grief”.
Safety exits were blocked, cinema doors were blocked, the fire alarm system was not working and a security guard failed to trigger the public warning system, investigators said.
The regional authorities appeared to have turned a blind eye to violations by the owners of the complex, which included cinemas, a bowling alley and children’s play areas, as well as shops and restaurants.
The shopping centre opened in 2013 despite the emergency services having pointed out problems with fire safety. The owners did not make improvements after a 2016 inspection.
It was registered as a business with less than 100 staff in order to reduce official checks.
“Any businessman can tell you how much it costs to make a fire inspector turn a blind eye to violations,” wrote popular blogger Ilya Varlamov.
Opposition leader Alexei Navalny was among thousands of mourners who came to leave flowers on a Moscow square on Tuesday evening. Some shouted slogans calling for the sacking of Governor Tuleyev and for a “Russia without Putin!”