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13 children - victims of Kemerovo shopping mall fire identified - Health Minister

Experts have started DNA tests required for identifying the bodies of those who died in the shopping center fire in Kemerovo

© Russian Ministry for Emergency Situations photo via AP

KEMEROVO, March 27. /TASS/. Relatives identified the bodies of 13 children who died in a fire in the Zimnyaya Vishnya (or Winter Cherry) shopping mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, Health Minister Veronika Skvortsova said on Tuesday.

"The bodies of 13 children who died in a fire are identified," she said.

Experts have started DNA tests required for identifying the bodies of those who died in the shopping center fire in Kemerovo, Veronika Skvortsova said.

"Forensic experts have arrived from Moscow, work on DNA tests has started," she said.

Skvortsova added that 25 bodies have already been identified and will be given to their relatives.

The fire started on the top floor of the four-storey Zimnyaya Vishnya (or Winter Cherry) shopping mall on March 25, engulfing an area of some 1,500 square meters. According to the most recent data, a total of 64 people were killed in the fire, 60 injured were treated in hospitals, 15 of them were hospitalized and 40 received outpatient care.

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