Demanding Answers

Russian Fury Grows at Fire Believed to Have Killed 41 Children

Thousands of protesters gather outside mall disaster site, amid speculation death toll is much higher than what’s been reported.

Anger is growing in Russia on Tuesday as more details emerged about the deadly Siberian mall fire believed to have killed at least 64 people, with officials reporting 41 of those were children. Thousands of demonstrators gathered in the city of Kemerovo to demand answers after it emerged fire alarms in the Winter Cherry shopping mall had been out of service since March 19 and fire doors were locked, trapping dozens of people inside the flaming building. A new theory about how the fire started from local officials has emerged in which a child may have lit a foam ball in the children’s play area, starting the blaze that engulfed the top floor of the complex and trapped others in a nearby movie theater. Many demonstrators believe the death toll is much higher than the official 64 figure, with chants of “Truth! Truth! How many dead?” ringing out among them. An entire class of schoolchildren is believed to have died in the fire. President Vladimir Putin flew to the scene and blamed the fire on “criminal negligence.”