Russians demand justice over fatal fire
RUSSIA: Thousands of people have gathered in cities across Russia to mourn and demand justice as public fury at the country’s deadliest fire for nearly a decade threatens to turn on the Kremlin.
Days after President Vladimir Putin was re-elected for a fourth term, there were emotional scenes and calls for political change at rallies from St Petersburg to Vladivostok, amid growing outrage over the blaze on Monday that claimed the lives of at least 64 people, 41 of them children, at the Winter Cherry shopping centre and entertainment complex in Kemerovo, a coal mining city 3500km east of Moscow.
In Kemerovo yesterday, thousands converged on a square chanting ‘‘killers’’ and calling on the regional governor, Aman Tuleyev, to resign over fire safety failures and his response to the disaster. There were also scattered shouts for Putin to quit.
Alexander Bastrykin, a Russian investigator, said the fire alarm system in the building had not worked since March 19, and that a staff member had failed to activate other alarms. Four people, including the owner of the company that manages the building, are facing criminal charges.
Tuleyev inflamed tensions after he was filmed telling Putin that the rally consisted of only 200 ‘‘troublemakers’’, adding that ‘‘these aren’t even relatives of the dead’’.
In Moscow, thousands of people crowded into a square near the Kremlin. Alexei Navalny, the opposition figurehead, was among them. The mood was sombre, punctuated by chants of ‘‘Tuleyev resign’’, ‘‘Corruption kills!’’ and ‘‘Putin resign’’.
Many alleged that corruption was to blame for the disaster. It is common in Russia for businesses to bribe officials to avoid fire safety checks. The Winter Cherry centre was last inspected in 2016.
At least four parents of children who were killed have attempted to commit suicide, according to local reports.
Putin flew to Kemerovo yesterday to lay flowers at a shrine outside the burnt-out building before meeting officials. He blamed ‘‘criminal negligence’’ for the blaze, and pledged that those found guilty of any violation of fire safety regulations would be punished.
Putin denied rumours that officials were covering up a much higher death toll.
Relatives of the dead have been asked to sign non-disclosure agreements, and there have been unconfirmed reports of police confiscating smartphones and other devices from residents living opposite the mall who may have recorded footage of the fire.