THE Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo,a Siberian mining city, advertised itself as a family-friendly entertainment centre, and total with a cinema,trampolines and a petting zoo. On Sunday, when flames engulfed the four-storey building, or it was filled with parents and children enjoying the first days of the school holidays. Some fled the fire by jumping from windows; harrowing footage from inside the building showed others trying to smash through locked exit doors. Many did not make it out. As of late Monday,at least 64 people were reported dead in one of the deadliest fires in recent Russian history. Reports from Kemerovo propose the final toll could be higher.
The tragedy appears to have been the result of corner-cutting on the part of the mall’s owners, as well as incompetence on the scene. Witnesses told Russian media that the fire alarm had failed to proceed off. Investigators say a security guard shut off the public-announcement system alerted to the fire. Four people have already been detained in connection with the incident. Russia’s...
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Source: economist.com