Siberian Shopping Mall Fire: 64 Dead, Several Still Missing

The blaze began at the first floor of the four-storey Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo.

The death toll of the devastating shopping centre fire incident in Russia’s Kemerovo Mall rose to 64, Sputnik reported.

The Tass agency quoted firefighters as saying that 40 of the 69 missing at the four-storey Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo were children. Another 43 people were injured in the blaze, the report said.

Внутри горящего торгового центра в одном из туалетов на втором этаже спрятались несколько человек. Они заложили щели в дверях мокрыми полотенцами. Люди звонят в МЧС и просят их спасти. ⠀ Сколько их там всего, а также сколько они смогут еще продержаться, неизвестно. Пожарные пытаются пройти к ним через дым. ⠀ Фото: Родственники не могут их найти, если вы что-то видели звоните на телефон горячей линии: 8(3842)58-23-33 #кемерово #кузбасс #зимняявишня

A post shared by Новости Кузбасса (@kuzbass_news) on Mar 25, 2018 at 9:01am PDT

Conflicting reports say that the fire was started by child who was misusing a lighter, other reports said it was a case of malfunctioning electrical wires. But there has been no immediate information on the cause of the fire at the mall, which is about 3,000 kilometers (1,900 miles) east of Moscow.

But Tass reported that the fire started on the top floor and consumed an area of about 1,500 square meters (16,150 square feet). The reports didn't say if the victims died from burns or smoke inhalation.

The shopping mall, which opened in 2013, has a cinema, petting zoo, children's center and bowling, Tass reported.

(With inputs from AP)