At least four people – including three children – died in a shopping centre 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.
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