Death toll in Russian mall fire up to 64
Security guard is said to have shut off PA system
MOSCOW— Witnesses say fire alarms were silent and many doors were locked when a blaze at a Russian shopping mall packed with children and their parents on the first weekend of the school recess killed 64 people in Siberia.
The fire at the Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo, a city about 1,900 miles east of Moscow, was extinguished by Monday morning after burning through the night.
Sixty-four deaths were confirmed after firefighters finished combing through the four floors of the mall, Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov said.
Investigators said Monday that emergency exits were blocked and a security guard had turned off the public address system when he received a call about the blaze, but they provided no information why that happened.
On Monday morning, Kemerovo residents were bringing flowers, candles and stuffed animals to a plaza outside the mall, and local hospitals reported an influx of people wanting to donate blood for the victims.
Out of 23 victims whose bodies have been identified, eight are children, the emergency officials said.
Thirteen people have been hospitalized. Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said on Russian state television that the patient in the gravest condition is an 11-year-old boy who jumped out of a window from the fourth floor. The boy’s parents and younger sister died in the fire, Skvortsova said.
The Prosecutor General’s Office on Monday ordered all shopping malls in Russia to be checked for fire safety features.
Russian companies routinely complain about excessive checks from various government agencies.
As a result, many companies prefer to pay bribes instead of complying with outdated and excessive regulations.