Updated
Russian President Vladimir Putin has flown to the scene of a deadly shopping mall centre in Siberia that killed 64 people and promised angry residents that those responsible for what he called "criminal negligence" would be harshly punished.
Key points:
- The fire alarm system in the centre had been out of order since March 19
- A security guard did not turn on the public address system to warn people to evacuate
- Staff responsible for public safety fled when the fire broke out, investigators said
The fire, at the Winter Cherry shopping centre in the city of Kemerovo, killed 41 children, according to the Interfax news agency, and the calamitous way it was handled has stirred anger and focused attention on corruption and lax fire safety standards.
Mr Putin, re-elected last weekend, laid flowers at a makeshift memorial to the victims in the coal-producing region about 3,600 kilometres east of Moscow, before chairing a meeting of top officials.
"What's happening here? This isn't war, it's not a spontaneous methane outburst," Mr Putin said.
"People came to relax, children. We're talking about demography and losing so many people.
"Why? Because of some criminal negligence, because of slovenliness. How could this ever happen?
"The first emotion when hearing about the number of dead and dead children is not to cry but to wail.
"And when you listen to what has been said here, speaking honestly, other emotions arise."
Fire alarm system out of order, fire exits blocked
Investigators said fire exits had been illegally blocked, the public address system had not been switched on, the fire alarm system was broken, and children had been locked inside cinemas.
Many staff responsible for public safety fled when the fire broke out, they said.
The fire swept through the upper floors of the shopping centre, where a cinema complex and children's play area were located, on Sunday afternoon (local time).
Hundreds of angry protesters, many of them crying, gathered in central Kemerovo on Tuesday morning.
The mayor, Ilya Seredyuk, tried to speak, but his words were often drowned out by chants calling on him to resign.
"Why don't they tell us the truth?" shouted one protester.
Many locals do not believe the official death toll of 64 and suspect that hundreds of people were killed in the blaze and that a cover-up is underway, something Mr Putin has flatly denied.
Relatives of the victims say they have compiled a list of 85 people, most of them children, who are still missing.
Staff responsible for public safety 'first to run away'
Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia's Investigative Committee, which handles major crimes, told Mr Putin the fire alarm system in the centre had been out of order since March 19 and a security guard had not turned on the public address system to warn people to evacuate the building.
Five people had already been detained, he said.
Asked by Mr Putin why the doors of three cinemas had been locked with people inside, Mr Bastrykin said investigators were still checking, but one theory was that it had been done to stop people without a ticket getting inside.
"Most of the staff ran away and left children and parents and their children to their fate," he said.
"Those workers who should have been responsible for people's safety, for organising an evacuation, they were the first to run away."
Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said 13 people were in hospital, including an 11-year-old boy who was in a serious condition.
Russian media said the boy had leapt from a window and that both his parents had been killed.
Many of the victims will only be identifiable by DNA testing, officials said.
Mobile phone messages sent from one of those on the list, 13-year-old Maria Moroz, and published by Russian media, said: "We are burning. I love you all. This is perhaps farewell."
AP/Reuters
Topics: fires, disasters-and-accidents, accidents, russian-federation
First posted