Your trusted source

Local authorities have declared a three-day mourning in Russia’s Kemerovo region following the devastating shopping mall fire, the regional administration's spokesperson told Sputnik on Monday.

"Governor Aman Tuleyev declared mourning throughout the Kemerovo region on March 27, 28 and 29," the spokesperson said.

Russia's main state channel, Channel 1, said it was cancelling entertainment programs in view of the catastrophe, TASS reported.

The death toll from the blaze has reached 64, Russian Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov told reporters.

"Regrettably, we have to announce that 64 people have died in the disaster," he said. Six bodies are yet to be recovered.

The risk of building collapse remains, nonetheless. According to the emergencies minister, structure reinforcement equipment has been delivered to Kemerovo.

On March 25, a fire erupted on the top floor of the four-storey Zimnyaya Vishnya (or Winter Cherry) shopping mall, engulfing a total of 1,500 square meters. The fire was extinguished but, in Puchkov’s words, the rubble has started to smolder due to the multilayer floorings in the building. Firefighters are currently dousing the smoldering spots found earlier.