Putin blames ‘criminal negligence’ for deadly Siberian mall fire
Moscow — Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday the deadly fire in Kemerovo was a result of "criminal negligence", according to comments aired by state television from Kemerovo. Russian authorities on Monday denounced what they called "flagrant violations" of safety norms that led to the deaths of at least 64 people, many of them children, in a fire at a busy shopping mall in an industrial city in Siberia. Investigators looking into the fire that broke out on Sunday have said a security guard had turned off the public address system and exits had been illegally blocked — notably at a multiplex cinema where children were watching cartoons — at the Winter Cherry shopping centre in the Siberian city of Kemerovo. "Investigators have already obtained proof of the flagrant violations that led to such serious consequences," Russia’s Investigative Committee said. It said a criminal probe had been opened and five people had been arrested — including an official of the mall’s securi...
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