Kemerovo Fire: 9 Children Dead, Dozens Missing In Shopping Mall Blaze

t least 51 people, including nine children, were killed and 45 others injured in a fire at a shopping center in Kemerovo, the Siberian coal-mining city and the administrative center of Kemerovo Oblast, Russia.

Apart from this, 64 people have been reported missing which include 41 children. Reports state that parts of the building are in danger of crumbling. 

Firefighters also issued a “three-five” signal on radio warning the public about the same. An order was also issued to the employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM) to leave the areas where they were working and try and extinguish the fire through window openings. 

According to a report in BBC News, the fire first started on an upper floor of the Zimnyaya Vishnya “Winter Cherry” shopping mall with many of the victims stuck in a cinema hall. 

The first deputy governor of the Kemerovo region, Vladimir Chernov, later clarified that 13 bodies were found in one of the movie halls of the shopping complex. The fire which started at around 5:00 p.m. local time (10:00 a.m. EDT) had the public in panic as videos posted on social media platforms showed people trying to jump from the windows to escape on Sunday.