WITHIN a day, fire crews doused the blaze that killed 64 people on March 25th at the Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo, a Siberian mining hub. More than a week later, the political embers still smoulder. A national day of mourning was declared, social-media avatars went black and marches were held across the country. In Kemerovo, protesters demanded the resignation of the governor, Aman Tuleyev. On April 2nd, he said he would go.
Though lethal disasters are common in Russia, the fire in Kemerovo seems destined to enter a different category of national tragedy, alongside the sinking of the Kursk submarine in 2000 and the Beslan hostage crisis in 2004. More than 40 of the victims were children, many trapped inside a cinema watching the animated film “Sherlock Gnomes”. Some wrote panicked messages on social media. Others called parents who could do nothing to breach the fire separating them. Video footage from the mall showed patrons leaping from windows to escape...Continue reading
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