According to the Emergencies Ministry, 16
people are still missing.
KEMEROVO, March 26. /TASS/. The death toll from a blaze that
ravaged a shopping mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo has reached 64,
Russian Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov told reporters.
"Regrettably, we have to announce that 64 people have died in the disaster," he said. Six bodies are yet to be recovered.
"Regrettably, we have to announce that 64 people have died in the disaster," he said. Six bodies are yet to be recovered.
The risk of
building collapse remains, nonetheless. According to the emergencies minister,
structure reinforcement equipment has been delivered to Kemerovo.
Earlier,
Russia’s Investigative Committee Spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko confirmed 56
deaths.
"After
the fire broke out, 44 people requested medical assistance, ten of them were
hospitalized," she added.
Puchkov
said earlier that 16 people were still reported to be missing after the deadly
blaze.
On March
25, a fire erupted on the top floor of the four-storey Zimnyaya Vishnya (or
Winter Cherry) shopping mall, engulfing a total of 1,500 square meters. The
fire was extinguished but, in Puchkov’s words, the rubble has started to
smolder due to the multilayer floorings in the building. Firefighters are
currently dousing the smoldering spots found earlier.
Source: ITAR-TASS 26-03-2018
