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Putin blames criminal negligence for death toll in Kemerovo fire Putin blames criminal negligence for death toll in Kemerovo fire
(about 1 hour later)
Vladimir Putin has said the high death toll from a fire at a shopping centre in the Siberian city of Kemerovo was the result of “criminal negligence”, during a visit to the scene of the blaze. Vladimir Putin has blamed “criminal negligence” for Russia’s deadliest fire in nearly a decade, during a visit to the scene of the blaze in the Siberian city of Kemerovo on Tuesday.
At least 64 people were killed in the fire that broke out on Sunday afternoon. Investigators said fire exits at the mall had been illegally blocked and the fire alarm system had not functioned properly. At least 64 people were killed in a fire that engulfed the top floor of the Winter Cherry shopping centre on Sunday, sweeping through a children’s play area and two cinemas. Some victims leaped from windows to escape the flames and smoke.
The fire swept through the upper floors of the Winter Cherry shopping centre, where a cinema complex and children’s play area were located. The Interfax news service reported that 41 of the 64 dead were children, according to lists of the dead displayed on Tuesday at a rescue centre in Kemerovo.
Putin, re-elected as president last weekend, visited the scene on Tuesday and laid flowers at a makeshift memorial to the victims of the fire. Thousands of residents met in a central square dominated by a statue of Lenin in Kemerovo on Tuesday in a rare public demonstration in the capital of a coalmining region in western Siberia. Some called for Putin to come to the square, or for the resignation of the local government. Riot police were deployed around the local administration building.
In one confrontation, Sergey Tsivilyev, a vice-governor for the region, told a man Putin was “making PR of the tragedy”. The man, Igor Vostrikov, responded that he had lost three young children, his wife and his sister in the blaze.
Rumours have swirled among relatives of the dead that the number of victims is far higher than given in official reports. There have also been news reports that law enforcement officers seized photo and video equipment from those who recorded footage of the fire.
On Monday, the Investigative Committee, the main federal investigating authority in Russia, appeared to confirm reports that relatives of the victims were being asked to sign non-disclosure agreements.
“The signing of these kinds of documents is provided for in criminal legislation and dictated above all in the interests of the victims,” the committee wrote on Telegram, a popular messenger app.
Putin, who was re-elected to a fourth term last week, visited the scene of the fire on Tuesday and laid flowers at a makeshift memorial to the victims. He met law enforcement officials and members of the regional government, as well as local members of a citizens’ action group.
“What’s happening here? This isn’t war, it’s not a spontaneous methane outburst. People came to relax, children. We’re talking about demography and losing so many people,” Putin said in a meeting with ministers in Kemerovo.“What’s happening here? This isn’t war, it’s not a spontaneous methane outburst. People came to relax, children. We’re talking about demography and losing so many people,” Putin said in a meeting with ministers in Kemerovo.
“Why? Because of some criminal negligence, because of slovenliness. How could this ever happen?” he asked.“Why? Because of some criminal negligence, because of slovenliness. How could this ever happen?” he asked.
The head of Russia’s investigative committee, which handles major crimes, said the fire alarm system in the mall had been out of order since 19 March and a security guard had not turned on the public address system to warn people to evacuate the building. The head of Russia’s investigative committee said the fire alarm system in the mall had been out of order since 19 March and a security guard had not turned on the public address system to warn people to evacuate the building.
The committee said earlier it was trying to bring in the mall’s owner for questioning.The committee said earlier it was trying to bring in the mall’s owner for questioning.
“Serious violations [of the law] took place when the mall was being built and when it was functioning. The fire exits were blocked,” Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for the committee, said on Monday.“Serious violations [of the law] took place when the mall was being built and when it was functioning. The fire exits were blocked,” Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for the committee, said on Monday.
Four people have been detained, including two employees of the firm that services the mall’s fire alarm. News reports on state-run television said on Monday that young children had called relatives from the burning shopping centre. “Tell my mother that I loved her,” one young girl told her aunt, according to the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. “”Tell everyone that I loved them.”
Emergency services said they had extinguished the fire, but later said it had reignited in places and that rescuers were struggling to recover bodies because the building’s top floor had collapsed. It was unclear on Tuesday whether any people were still unaccounted for.
The health minister, Veronika Skvortsova, said at the scene that 13 people were in hospital, including an 11-year-old boy in a serious condition. Russian media said the boy had leaped from a window and that both his parents had been killed.
Officials said many of the victims would be identifiable by only DNA testing. An unofficial list of those missing, circulating in Russian media, included more than 20 children, some as young as five.
News reports on state-run television Monday said young children had called relatives from the burning shopping centre. “Tell my mother that I loved her,” one young girl told her aunt, according to the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper. “”Tell everyone that I loved them.”
“We are burning,” another young woman wrote on the social network VK. “This may be goodbye.”“We are burning,” another young woman wrote on the social network VK. “This may be goodbye.”
The fire was the deadliest since a club in the Siberian city of Perm burned down in 2009, killing 156.The fire was the deadliest since a club in the Siberian city of Perm burned down in 2009, killing 156.
Reuters contributed to this report
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