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Kemerovo, Russia | AFP | Russia on Wednesday held a national day of mourning and buried the first victims of a fire that ravaged a busy shopping centre and killed 64 people, most of them children.
Flags were lowered and entertainment events cancelled three days after Sunday’s devastating blaze in the western Siberian city of Kemerovo.
On Tuesday thousands of people had gathered in Moscow and other cities to mourn the victims and vent their anger at the authorities after children were trapped in a locked cinema as the inferno spread through the mall.
Daily Brief: Will families get justice for deadly Russia mall blaze?; Syria’s “ceasefire”; Uzbek censorship; libel case sends chills in Thailand; the mysterious death of a Papuan child; and this is what male privilege looks like… https://t.co/zWrzj8cvoS pic.twitter.com/feM4lKqEOL
— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) March 28, 2018
The youngest victim was a two-year-old boy, while at least 19 of the 64 people who perished were under 10, said a list published by regional authorities. In total 41 children died in the fire.
A criminal investigation has been opened and five people have been detained over the incident.
President Vladimir Putin — who was this month re-elected for a fourth term — on Wednesday asked ministers to observe a minute’s silence and called for safety checks at similar shopping centres.
“We need to look at leisure and shopping centres of this kind and this should not be done just on the spur of the moment — it is absolutely evident that safety must be ensured,” Putin said.
He visited Kemerovo on Tuesday after a huge outpouring of public grief and criticism and upbraided officials at a televised meeting.
Today Russia mourns victims of the mall fire in #Kemerovo. 64 people died in the fire – 41 of them kids. Senseless, horrible tragedy that was completely preventable.https://t.co/cFACGlBfBZ … @hrw
Photos by @EvgenyFeldman for @meduzaproject pic.twitter.com/yXOaMs4s3l— Yulia Gorbunova (@yuliagorbunova_) March 28, 2018
Russian prosecutors have already ordered checks into fire safety at all shopping centres with leisure facilities.
Putin did not call for legislative changes, saying current laws should be sufficient to ensure public safety.
– Rare protests –
But many observers said the Kremlin’s reaction was insufficient and belated.
“The authorities were late in announcing mourning,” political analyst Abbas Gallyamov told Vedomosti business daily.
“Possibly they didn’t want to spoil the positive mood after the elections and there was hope that the tragedy would not turn out to be so large-scale.”
Officials have said that multiple safety rules were violated, the fire alarm system was not working and staff did not follow correct emergency procedures. Witnesses reported that one cinema had been locked from the outside.
Regional authorities have come in for particular criticism, since the veteran regional governor Aman Tuleyev — who lost a young relative in the fire — has not visited the scene nor met angry residents.
