Russia Protests As Putin Claims Mall Fire (64 Dead) Was ‘Criminal Negligence’ (Video)

Russian officials trying to break up protesting crowds in the Siberian city of Kemerovo were booed when they urged the crowd to return home, as the protesters had been standing there in the freezing cold for already seven hours.

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/21506-Russian-Mall-Inferno-Death-Toll-Jumps-To-48

Many in the city are angry at Russian officials over the shopping center complex fire that killed at least 64 people. The catastrophic event turned even more emotional after it became clear 41 of the dead were children.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Maria Moroz was 13. She sent these messages from the shopping centre in Kemerovo:&quot;We are burning…I love you.. all of you… Looks like this is farewell from me..&quot; Maria died this morning from her injuries. <a href="https://t.co/R1Ys6zAnFO">pic.twitter.com/R1Ys6zAnFO</a></p>&mdash; Bryan MacDonald (@27khv) <a href="https://twitter.com/27khv/status/978210877127233536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2018</a></blockquote>

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President Vladimir Putin has in the meantime arrived in Kemerovo and was quick to point the finger to officials in the city, blaming them for "criminal negligence."

During an angry meeting with government officials, President Putin said: “What’s happening here? This isn’t war, it’s not a spontaneous methane outburst. People came to relax, children. We’re talking about demography and losing so many people.”

Related coverage: https://thegoldwater.com/news/21455-Breaking-Warning-Shock-Video-4-Dead-Many-Jump-Out-Of-Burning-Russian-Shopping-Centre

“Why? Because of some criminal negligence, because of slovenliness. How could this ever happen?”

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Putin leaves flowers at the site of the Kemerovo tragedy. <br><br>📹 KremlinRu <a href="https://t.co/nNdk2bPD3o">pic.twitter.com/nNdk2bPD3o</a></p>&mdash; Nina ☦️ Byzantina (@NinaByzantina) <a href="https://twitter.com/NinaByzantina/status/978480479031648256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 27, 2018</a></blockquote>

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According protesting families, some 85 people are still missing (most of them children).

A woman in the crowd said how "children called their parents, asked them for help, asked for the fire brigades to be sent in."

Meanwhile, CCTV video footage has surfaced of the moment the fire spread inside the shopping mall.

<blockquote class="twitter-video" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">CCTV captures moment <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kemerovo?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Kemerovo</a> shopping centre fire erupts<br><br>Thick black smoke covers the whole floor seconds after ignition via <a href="https://twitter.com/liveleak?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@liveleak</a> <a href="https://t.co/yZl0dLexvs">pic.twitter.com/yZl0dLexvs</a></p>&mdash; Real News Line (@RealNewsLine) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealNewsLine/status/978284127303684096?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 26, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Source:

http://www.news.com.au/world/dozens-of-people-have-died-and-scores-more-are-feared-dead-in-a-shopping-centre-fire-in-russia/news-story/59264b9ef1b019a58c68f27291ba3028