Russians want Siberia gov to resign over mall tragedy
Kemerovo ( Russia), March 27: Russians vented their anger at the authorities on Tuesday over a huge mall fire that killed at least 64 people, including 41 children, many of whom were trapped in the inferno by locked doors.
President Vladimir Putin flew to the Siberian city of Kemerovo two days after the tragedy and laid roses at a makeshift memorial as critics questioned his response to one of the deadliest fires in Russia over the past century.
Hundreds of residents meanwhile packed Kemerovo’s central square, calling for the resignation of the region’s veteran governor and questioning the official death toll.
In Moscow, around 2,000 people gathered on Pushkin Square in mourning on Tuesday evening, leaving flowers, lighting candles in the shape of the word “Kemerovo” and letting off white balloons.
Russia’s main opposition leader Alexei Navalny and his wife left a bunch of red carnations.
Some protesters in Moscow shouted slogans calling for the sacking of Kemerovo’s region and for “Russia without Putin.”
Protester Yekaterina Nekrasnova, a 29- year- old photographer, said: “My friend in Kemerovo has lost two children and her husband is in intensive care.”
She blamed the fire on “negligence and greed.”
In Saint Petersburg, Russia’s second largest city, hundreds gathered on the central Marsovo Polye square, many carrying flowers.
“All these children were killed by corruption and lawlessness. These ruling powers killed them,” said 26- year- old Varvara Mikhailova.