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Investigative Committee confirms death of 56 people in Kemerovo shopping mall fire

Another 44 people have been injured

MOSCOW, March 26. /TASS/. Russia’s Investigative Committee has confirmed the death of 56 people in the Zimnyaya Vishnya (or Winter Cherry) shopping mall fire in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, the Committee’s Spokesperson Svetlana Petrenko said, adding that another 44 people had been injured.

"Investigators confirm the death of 56 people in the Kemerovo shopping mall fire," Petrenko said.

"After the fire erupted, 44 people requested medical assistance, ten of them were hospitalized," she added.

The fire started on the top floor of the four-storey mall on March 25, engulfing an area of some 1,500 square meters. Firefighters have extinguished the blaze, work is underway to clear the rubble. Investigators are working at the scene. Four people have been detained for questioning, including the lessee of an outlet where the fire is believed to have started.

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