India condoles loss of lives in Russia mall fire

Moscow: India on Monday condoled the death of at least 64 people in a fire that engulfed a mall in a Russian city.

In a tweet, the Indian Embassy in Moscow said that “it expresses its deepest condolences to the families and friends of victims of Kemerovo tragedy”.

“We are deeply saddened by the loss of lives, including many children. Our prayers and thoughts are with them,” it said.

At least 64 people, including many children, were killed in a deadly blaze that engulfed a shopping mall in Russia’s industrial city of Kemerovo, the country’s Emergencies Minister said on Monday.

The inferno ripped through the top floor of the four-storey Winter Cherry commercial complex on Sunday afternoon in Kemerovo, located in southern Siberia around 3,000 km east of Moscow. Many of the victims were children as the mall’s shops, cinema and bowling alley were packed due to school holidays.

Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov confirmed the death toll and said six bodies were yet to be recovered, TASS news agency reported.

—IANS