60 people lost their lives in a fire in a shopping center in Kemerovo. That was in March 2018. Now those responsible have been brought to trial.
Moscow / Kemerovo – More than three and a half years after the death of 60 people in a fire in a Russian shopping center, a court has sentenced eight defendants to terms of between 5 and 14 years in prison.
The general director of the main owner of the shopping center in Kemerovo has to go to a prison camp for 14 years, according to the judge’s judgment for violating safety and fire regulations. The judicial authorities in the Siberian city around 3000 kilometers east of Moscow announced on Friday. According to the authorities, 60 people were killed in the fire in March 2018, including 37 children. 147 people were injured.
Among the convicts were those responsible for the technology and fire protection. The fire broke out on March 28, 2018 on the top floor of the shopping center. A cable fire in a cinema and a short circuit in the children’s department were considered to be the cause of the fire. The case attracted particular attention because the alarm did not work and emergency exits were locked.
A second procedure is also expected, including against those responsible in the Russian authorities who had accepted the technical systems. “The investigative committee has held accountable all those whose actions or inaction led to this tragedy,” said the spokeswoman for the central investigative committee, Svetlana Petrenko, on Friday.
Investigators have shown through a careful analysis of the events in recent years that “incompetent decisions” of a whole circle of participants had led to the massive deaths of people. Authority employees also turned a blind eye to the building regulations and safety regulations, said Petrenko. dpa
