At least 64 people are confirmed dead and many others injured in a massive fire at a shopping center in Siberia, Russian officials say.
The death toll from the fire that began on March 25 could still go higher as the search progresses through the building in the city of Kemerovo, 3,000 kilometers east of Moscow.
At least nine children were among the dead.
State-run TASS news agency quoted the Emergency Situations Ministry on March 26 as saying more than a dozen people remained unaccounted for, down from 64 reported earlier.
TASS also said that Kemerovo Governor Aman Tuleyev had declared that families of people killed in the blaze would receive a payment of 1 million rubles ($17,500) in compensation for each fatality.
The cause of the blaze was not immediately known. Authorities launched a criminal investigation into the tragedy.
Full story: rferl.org
RFE/RL’s Russian Service
Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
+ There are no comments
Add yours