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Light-emitting diode lamp behind Kemerovo shopping mall deadly fire — reports

A fire broke out on the top floor of a four-story shopping mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo on March 25

MOSCOW, August 28. /TASS/. Two expert findings, including an independent study, have confirmed that a light-emitting diode lamp was behind a deadly fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping mall in Kemerovo, several sources familiar with the findings told TASS on Tuesday.

The analysis was conducted by the Research Center for Fire Expert Studies of the St. Petersburg University of the Fire Safety Service of Russia’s Emergencies Ministry and the Omsk-based Bureau of Independent Expert Studies, one of the sources said.

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"In particular, St. Petersburg experts say in their findings that ignition resulting from the emergency operation mode of a light-emitting diode lamp installed above a foam-filled play area in the fourth floor was the cause of the fire. Burning polymer mass fell down into the foam-filled play area," causing the deadly fire, the source said.

A fire broke out on the top floor of the Zimnyaya Vishnya (or Winter Cherry), a four-story shopping mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo on March 25, eventually engulfing an area of 1,500 square meters. The catastrophic inferno claimed the lives of 64 people, including 41 children.

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