Tag Archives: Shopping Center

Russia buries victims of mall blaze as flags fly at half mast

A woman reacts during a gathering to commemorate the victims of a shopping mall fire in Kemerovo on the day of national mourning in the far eastern city of Vladivostok, Russia March 28, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Maltsev

By Polina Ivanova and Andrew Osborn

KEMEROVO/MOSCOW (Reuters) – Funerals began in Russia on Wednesday for the 64 people, most of them children, whose deaths in a fire at a Siberian shopping mall have roused public anger over official corruption and incompetence.

Flags on government buildings across Russia flew at half mast, state TV and radio stations removed light entertainment shows from their schedules, and lawmakers in Moscow observed a minute of silence.

The fire at the Winter Cherry mall in the city of Kemerovo on Sunday killed 41 children. Investigators have not confirmed the cause of the fire, but the high death toll has been blamed on reported shortcomings in the mall’s safety procedures.

At a funeral service in an Orthodox church in Kemerovo, about 3,600 km (2,200 miles) east of Moscow, women wailed as prayers were sung over three coffins, including two small caskets for children.

Sergei and Natalia Agarkov buried two school-age children, Konstantin and Maria. The children’s grandmother, Nadezhda Agarkova, was also killed.

All three had gone to see a film at a cinema on the top floor of the shopping center and had been unable to get out of the auditorium when the fire broke out. Russian media reported the doors had been locked.

“This tragedy is made even worse by the fact that children became victims of the blaze. Great grief is upon all of us and there are no words that would express our common pain,” the priest told the mourners, who held candles and repeatedly crossed themselves.

President Vladimir Putin, visiting the disaster scene on Tuesday, promised angry residents that those responsible for what he called criminal negligence would be punished and declared Wednesday a national day of mourning.

Putin on Wednesday ordered similar shopping centers across Russia to be inspected to make sure they were well prepared in the event of a fire.

Some victims’ relatives say they believe a cover-up is under way and that the death toll is higher than 64, something Putin has denied. Investigators on Wednesday said they had opened a criminal case into a Ukrainian prankster who they said had spread disinformation about the death toll.

ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTEST

Investigators say their main theory is that an electrical short circuit caused the fire.

Almost all the bodies have been recovered, many of which could be identified only via DNA testing. A further 14 people remain in hospital.

Russia has rigorous fire safety rules and a system of regular inspections, but these efforts are undermined by endemic corruption which affects many aspects of life in the country of 144 million people.

Moscow reduced the number of inspections for certain businesses after complaints that inspectors were extorting bribes in exchange for turning a blind eye to violations.

But some business owners in Kemerovo said this meant that safety shortcomings were not being identified.

The governor of the region where the fire took place, Aman Tuleyev, sacked two senior officials on Wednesday, the RIA news agency reported.

Investigators have also detained and charged five people over the fire, including a security guard who they accuse of turning off the public address system and the mall’s manager who is accused of violating fire safety regulations.

At least one vigil held in memory of the dead in cities across Russia has turned into an anti-government demonstration.

At a Moscow gathering on Tuesday attended by several thousand people, including opposition leader Alexei Navalny, protesters held banners reading “Bribes kill children” and “We demand a real investigation”.

Some chanted “Putin – resign!”, ten days after Putin secured a comfortable election win for another six-year term in office.

(Reporting by Polina Ivanova in Kemerovo; Writing by Andrew Osborn; Editing by Christian Lowe and Raissa Kasolowsky)

Colombians leave floral tributes amid probe into deadly Bogota blast

People light candles in the Andino shopping center after an explosive device detonated in a restroom on Saturday, in Bogota, Colombia June 18, 2017. REUTERS/Jaime Saldarriaga

By Nelson Bocanegra and Helen Murphy

BOGOTA (Reuters) – Floral tributes were placed at the Bogota shopping center where three women were killed and nine wounded after an explosive device detonated in a restroom as Colombians flocked to buy gifts ahead of Sunday’s Father’s Day celebrations.

The normally busy Andino mall was eerily quiet as people placed flowers on the main floor of the upscale retail center, which on Saturday afternoon was the scene of chaos and terror as the device exploded inside a toilet stall on the second floor.

President Juan Manuel Santos denounced the “cowardly terrorist act” and offered a reward of 100 million pesos ($34,258) for information leading to capture of those responsible.

He said investigators are working on three hypotheses but declined to provide any information while the probe is underway. No one has claimed responsibility for the deadly act.

“The objective of terrorism is to sow fear, and our response to that is to show unity and bravery to confront it,” said Santos following a security council meeting with members of the armed forces and ministers.

“Colombians must unite and show solidarity to confront such cowardly acts.”

He asked residents to be vigilant but not let the attack cower them. Santos later visited Andino’s food court to have lunch with his son.

Police said the device was placed behind a toilet bowl. Half a dozen forensic police dressed in white overalls were at the scene on the second floor as scores of uniformed officials and intelligence personnel scanned the mall.

One of the victims was a 23-year old French woman identified as Julie Huynh who had been volunteering in a poor area of the city. Colombians Ana Maria Gutierrez, 27, and Lady Paola Jaimes Ovalle, 31, also died. A fourth woman remains in intensive care.

“It was incredible, I heard the explosion, but I never imagined that it was an attack, that it could be so horrible, I can’t sleep,” said Maria Vasquez, 56, as she looked toward the door of the restroom on Sunday.

“This is unforgivable. Children could have been hurt as they go to the toilet with their mothers,” said Pedro Alvarez, as he placed a paper flower at the information desk.

Many stores remained shut as people milled around in silence.

Photographs on social media late on Saturday showed a woman slumped against the wall in a pool of blood and what appeared to be a shard of metal piercing her back. In front of her was another woman with her leg torn apart above the knee.

Another image showed the destroyed toilet cubicle with a blood-splattered handrail and debris strewn over the floor.

Security has improved in Bogota over the past decade as police and military increased surveillance and put more armed officials on the streets. At one time all bags were checked at the entrance to shopping malls, but that has been vastly scaled back in recent years.

Bomb dogs still check cars at parking facilities in the capital.

A peace accord signed last year with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the country’s biggest guerrilla group, raised confidence bomb attacks might cease.

The country’s second-largest insurgent group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), in February detonated a bomb in Bogota, injuring dozens of police.

The Marxist ELN, currently negotiating a peace accord with the government, on Saturday condemned the attack against civilians.

Authorities have said there have been threats of attacks in Bogota by the so-called Gulf Clan, a group of former right-wing paramilitary fighters who traffic drugs.

(Writing by Helen Murphy; editing by Diane Craft)