The death toll of the deadly blaze in Kemerovo shopping mall has risen to 64 people, Russia’s Investigative committee said.
At least eleven children are reportedly among the victims.
As rescuers continue to search the burned-out shopping mall in the city of Kemerovo, many have been frantically trying to reach their relatives, including children who were in the mall’s cinema or play area when the fire started.
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In the meantime, an estimated 11 people are still missing, but the chances of discovering anybody alive amid the smouldering rubble are slim. Earlier, 64 people had been listed as missing, but authorities clarified that these included the victims whose bodies were already found but had not yet been identified.
Video posted on social media showed people jumping from windows to escape the flames on Sunday. Several hundred people, including many children, were in the mall at the time.
“According to preliminary information, the roof collapsed in two cinemas,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.
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The fire, which broke out on Sunday afternoon, was finally contained some 12 hours later, after engulfing some 1,600 square meters. The cause of the fire is not yet known and authorities have launched an investigation.
The region’s deputy governor Vladimir Chernov was quoted as saying the fire began in a children’s trampoline room.
“The preliminary suspicion is that a child had a cigarette lighter which ignited foam rubber in this trampoline room, and it erupted like gunpowder,” he said.
Reports from witnesses have described panic as people realised there was a fire spreading, with many saying on social media that there were no fire alarms or loudspeaker warnings, and that people had to find their own way through the top floor of the mall, which was already filled with smoke.
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