Russian mall fire killed 41 children

Putin announces March 27 national day of mourning
MOSCOW: Forty-one children are among the victims of the 64 people who lost their lives in the shopping mall fire in Siberia, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations said Tuesday.
The update comes as thousands of people have held a protest since early Thursday morning in the city of Kemerovo, calling on the authorities to release the actual number of casualties in the shopping mall fire incident.
According to the protesters, there were 1,500 people present at the shopping mall when the four-story Winter Cherry shopping mall caught fire.
Chanting “truth, truth”, they accused the authorities of hiding the facts and called on the Kemerovo governor to respond to their questions.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Kemerovo and held a meeting with regional authorities. He said the incident occurred as a result of a “criminal negligence” and “sloppiness”.
He announced March 27 a national day of mourning.
The fire in the four-story Winter Cherry shopping mall took place on Sunday.
The blaze started on the top floor near a movie theater and children’s play area, and then expanded to consume an area of about 1,600 square meters. Twenty people were rescued from the building, while some 100 others were evacuated.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened two criminal cases, including the fire safety rules violations and the deaths by negligence, over the incident.–AA