Siberian governor resigns in wake of deadly mall fire

The Kremlin says the governor of the Siberian region where a shopping centre fire killed 64 people has resigned.

The statement Sunday said Aman Tuleyev had offered his resignation and that it was accepted by President Vladimir Putin. Tuleyev had headed the Kemerovo region for more than 20 years.

A March 25 fire at a four-story shopping mall in the regional capital, also called Kemerovo, prompted thousands of people to demonstrate last week, calling for regional officials' resignations and alleging widespread corruption and incompetency.

Seven people have been arrested in the case, including the woman who headed the local building inspection agency when the mall was constructed. Fire survivors say the mall's fire alarm system did not work during the blaze.

The dead included 41 children.

Tuleyev blamed 'busybodies' for protests

Complaints about official corruption and incompetence are widespread in Russia, and in Kemerovo they are aggravated by what's seen as an insensitive response from officials.

Although Putin visited Kemerovo on Tuesday, he did not speak to a large gathering of demonstrators demanding answers, protesting corruption and calling for regional officials' ouster.

Deputy regional governor Sergei Tsivilyov did show up, but incurred the crowd's anger when he dismissed as "a PR stunt" concerns that the death toll was far higher than officially reported.

In a meeting with Putin, Tuleyev added to the anger by blaming "the opposition" and "local busybodies" for fomenting the 10-hour protest.

Tsivilyov is now the acting governor following Tuleyev's resignation.

In the days after the fire, tens of thousands of people in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities streamed to makeshift memorials to the fire victims, bringing flowers and stuffed toys. Officials appear concerned that dismay over the fire could encourage protests that could undermine Putin's mandate just weeks after he won election to a fourth term.

Mall fire in Kemerovo, Russia kills dozens

7 years ago

Duration 3:08

A mall fire in the city of Kemerovo, Russia, has killed dozens of people, including many children. An investigation into the fire has been launched — witness reports say that the mall's fire alarms did not sound and that many of the fire exits were blocked

Andrei Klimov, head of the committee for defence of state sovereignty in the upper house of parliament, warned that such protests could be exploited by Western countries that want to weaken Russia, echoing the frequent contention that the West is inherently "Russophobic."

"With every protest, they try to transfer it into the political plane — an example of this is the situation in Kemerovo," he said Friday.

'I am in some kind of anti-utopia'

Distrust in Russian officials' promises of a thorough investigation is strong.

"They're not telling us the truth. Judging by everything, nobody saved the children, they closed them off and abandoned them," said Olga Begeza.

Begeza's daughter Diana wanted to go on a March 25 school trip from the village of Treshchevsky to Kemerovo — a 45-kilometre journey rewarding them for being good students — but couldn't because Begeza didn't have the 400 rubles ($7 Cdn) to pay for it. Six schoolchildren from the village, who were inside a movie theatre at the mall, are among the dead.

"It seems that our lives don't count for anything. That's the only thing my family has understood," she said.

Ksenia Pakhomova, a 24-year-old in Kemerovo, complained that state TV channels were more concerned with Putin's reputation than with the city's suffering.

"The federal channels are shouting that it's necessary to unite around Putin, bring condolences to Putin. What is happening? I feel like I am in some kind of anti-utopia," said Pakhomova, a regional activist for anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, Putin's most visible foe.

Kemerovo mall fire the subject of Russia's grief and rage

7 years ago

Duration 3:07

The Kemerovo mall fire that killed 64 people including 41 children is the subject of many Russians' grief and rage — with some going as far as to blame Vladimir Putin for the corruption and deficiencies that led to the fire. An investigation has already identified critical failures that led to the tragedy, and there are fears that the number of deaths could be much higher.

Russia has a fire death rate far higher than most countries in the developed world. From 2011-15, it recorded 7.5 deaths per 100,000 residents, more than seven times the per-capita fire deaths in the U.S., according to the International Association of Fire and Rescue Services.

In Kemerovo, some fear that trend will only continue and that others will suffer life-changing losses like theirs.

"Such tragedies will be repeated, unless the system of corruption is changed," said Dmitry Kirillov, whose niece died in the Kemerovo blaze.

"The mourning period will end, but their indifference to people never will," Begeza said.