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Dozens of children still missing after shopping centre fire kills 56 people

Richard Hartley-Parkinson

Dozens of children still missing after shopping centre fire kills 56 people
People were forced to jump to safety as the fire tore through the building (Picture: Siberian Times)

A fire at a shopping centre in Russia has claimed at least 56 people with many still missing including dozens of children.

Pictures and video from the scene show people jumping from the four-storey Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo which was only brought under control this morning.

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Footage shows panic as the fire broke out and one even shows people unable to escape because fire doors were locked.

Sergei Moskalenko, 11, is in hospital after jumping out of a burning window, unaware that his parents died in the fire.

Many children are believed to have become trapped in a cinema which was badly hit in the fire.

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KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: The Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street hit by fire; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASSPHOTOGRAPH BY TASS / Barcroft Images
The fire burned through the night and was only brought under control this morning (Picture: Barcroft)
KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: Battling a fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASSPHOTOGRAPH BY TASS / Barcroft Images
A cinema where there were scores of children was badly damaged in the fire (Picture: Barcroft)

A heartbreaking final phone call from Viktoria ‘Vika’ Pochankina was recorded telling her aunt: ‘Everything is burning. The doors are blocked. I can’t get out, I can’t breath’.

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A young boy called Igor said: ‘I was watching a movie with my seven year old sister. Suddenly the door opened and a woman shouted – “fire!” Clouds of smoke appeared in a second, I grabbed my sister and we ran downstairs.

‘The crowd was terrible there, I could see nothing. It took us five minutes to run out. My hands are still trembling, what if that woman did not come in and shout…?’

The owner of the shopping mall has been taken in for questioning along with the official in charge of fire safety and a senior manager.

Local governor Aman Tuleev said he had lost an 11 year old relative in the fire.

‘I feel it very close, because my very close relative died there, a girl,’ he said.

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KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: The Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street hit by fire; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASS (Photo by Danil AikinTASS via Getty Images)
There are fears that most of the victims of the fire are children (Picture: Getty/Tass)
KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: Battling a fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASS (Photo by Danil AikinTASS via Getty Images)
It is not known what started the fire but it is believed to have broken out on the top floor of the shopping centre (Photo by Danil AikinTASS via Getty Images)
KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: The Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street hit by fire; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASS (Photo by Danil AikinTASS via Getty Images)
The owner of the mall, head of safety and a manager have all been taken in for questioning by police (Photo by Danil AikinTASS via Getty Images)

The shopping centre is about 1,900 miles east of Moscow.

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Tass said the fire started on the top floor but the cause was not immediately known. A criminal investigation is under way.

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

A woman identified only as Ekaterina said: ‘I was with my husband on the third floor in a furniture shop. Suddenly the ceiling began to crack, first in one place, then everywhere.

KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: A fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASSPHOTOGRAPH BY TASS / Barcroft Images
Witnesses said that some of the fire doors were locked meaning they were unable to escape from the deadly blaze (Picture: Barcroft)
KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: Smoke rises over the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street hit by fire; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASSPHOTOGRAPH BY TASS / Barcroft Images
It has also been claimed that the building’s fire safety was tested recently, although this has not been officially confirmed (Picture: Barcroft)
KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: A firefighter battling a fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASSPHOTOGRAPH BY TASS / Barcroft Images
The shopping mall, which opened in 2013, has a cinema, petting zoo, children’s centre and bowling, Tass reported (Picture: Barcroft)
KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: Battling a fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASS
There were chaotic scenes inside as people scrambled down escalators and clambered over one another to try and escape (Picture: Danil Aikin)

‘We thought it would collapse on our heads in some seconds. Everyone rushed out including shop assistants, up to 50 people got in one lift.

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‘People were jumping on each other on the escalator. Men were running ahead of women… and on the ground floor all were just standing and watching our rush, nobody was in a hurry.

‘Many people got outside without coats, many were from fitness centre and spa, in flip flops and covered in towels… Some people looted TV sets.’

KEMEROVO, RUSSIA - MARCH 25, 2018: Firefighters battling a fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping centre in Prospekt Lenina Street; several people and at least four children have been killed in the fire. Danil Aikin/TASSPHOTOGRAPH BY TASS / Barcroft Images
A criminal investigation is now underway following the deadly fire (Picture: Barcroft)

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