RTSun, 25 Mar 2018 14:00 UTC
© che.sovitina / Instagram
At least four people - including three children - died in a shopping center in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, where a huge fire broke out Sunday. Emergency services continue working to rescue those trapped inside the building.
The fire broke out on Sunday afternoon local time
. Rescuers have managed to get some 120 people out so far, according to the regional emergencies ministry.
The victims were in the mall's playroom, according to the Investigative Committee spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko."Some 26 people have also sought medical help or been taken to hospitals," she added.
Meanwhile, the number of injured has risen to 15. Two of them remain in a serious condition.
In addition, some 200 animals of 25 species that lived in the mall's petting zoo are feared to be dead. "I think they died of suffocation, because I was the last to leave and there were no other people left in the zoo," the facility director Evgeniy Videman told TASS. "There was thick smoke on the third floor, people were leaving in panic by a side ladder. There was no chance to get the animals out," he added.
Pictures circulating on social media show plumes of smoke rising from the building. One of the videos from the site shows
a desperate person jump out of a fourth floor window emitting thick black smoke.The blaze has engulfed some 1,500 square meters so far, but was stopped from spreading further. More than 210 rescuers and 48 units of equipment are deployed at the site.
A state of emergency has been declared in the Kemerovo region, Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov said.
Comment: UPDATE from RT:
37 dead, dozens of children missing after tragic mall blaze in Russia's Kemerovo
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.
Some 37 people were killed in the blaze, the Russian Investigative Committee has confirmed. At least 11 children were among the victims.
Amid conflicting reports, some have described the source of the fire as the children's playground, suggesting that the trampoline there caught fire after a child allegedly misused a lighter. Another version suggests that electrical wiring at the playground had short-circuited.
Reports from witnesses have described panic as people realized 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. Several hundred people, including many children, were in the mall at the time.
Tragically, some reportedly had left their children unattended in one of the mall's cinema halls or at the playground.
The fire, which broke out on Sunday afternoon, was finally contained some 12 hours later, after engulfing some 1,600 square meters. The building sustained severe damage, its roof and floors partially collapsing.
Some 43 people were injured in the blaze, according to the emergency services, and 37 remain hospitalized. Some 69 people, including 40 children, were said to be missing after the fire.
Fears are growing that almost an entire class of primary school children may have perished in the blaze. Eight kids from a school outside Kemerovo were visiting the city on an excursion with a teacher, who led them to watch a cartoon show at the shopping mall. Russian media reports suggest that she chose to have a stroll through the mall and left the children at the cinema, from which they apparently couldn't find their way out.
Comment: UPDATE from RT:
37 dead, dozens of children missing after tragic mall blaze in Russia's Kemerovo
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.
Some 37 people were killed in the blaze, the Russian Investigative Committee has confirmed. At least 11 children were among the victims.
Amid conflicting reports, some have described the source of the fire as the children's playground, suggesting that the trampoline there caught fire after a child allegedly misused a lighter. Another version suggests that electrical wiring at the playground had short-circuited.
Reports from witnesses have described panic as people realized 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. Several hundred people, including many children, were in the mall at the time.
Tragically, some reportedly had left their children unattended in one of the mall's cinema halls or at the playground.
The fire, which broke out on Sunday afternoon, was finally contained some 12 hours later, after engulfing some 1,600 square meters. The building sustained severe damage, its roof and floors partially collapsing.
Some 43 people were injured in the blaze, according to the emergency services, and 37 remain hospitalized. Some 69 people, including 40 children, were said to be missing after the fire.
Fears are growing that almost an entire class of primary school children may have perished in the blaze. Eight kids from a school outside Kemerovo were visiting the city on an excursion with a teacher, who led them to watch a cartoon show at the shopping mall. Russian media reports suggest that she chose to have a stroll through the mall and left the children at the cinema, from which they apparently couldn't find their way out.