hunger is running high in the russian city of camera where a blaze of a shopping mall killed sixty four people including many children on sunday crowds are gathering increasingly at the headquarters of the regional government demanding justice for the victims. i ran upstairs see my stuff didn't let me through the push me my daughter asked me why no one posts even. if i meant to do something just. love them or putin is in the siberian city to pay his respects to those killed in the deadly fire he's promised those responsible will face justice. coming up a news hour over a dozen nations worldwide expelled russian diplomats in a show of solidarity with the u.k.

which holds moscow accountable for the poisoning of a former double agent. live from our international news center in moscow this is our team my names you know neil welcome to the program russia is mourning the victims of the deadly blaze in the siberian city of camera sixty four people including many children lost their lives in a huge fire that broke out at a shopping and entertainment complex on sunday president putin who's in the city says criminal negligence was to blame for the blaze. well under is running high in the city where people have gathered out the headquarters of the regional government they are demanding answers and justice for the victims more people are expected to rally today a crowd has been repeatedly chanting

a word truth the region has declared three days of. what. do you know where the president putin laid flowers a makeshift memorial at the shopping center he also visited the injured in a local hospital and promised all those responsible would face punishment. when you hear for the first time how many people die the children die so you don't just want to cry and look at you want to scream but after you hear what's happening here frankly you feel very different because. ok for more on the situation in camera if i'm joined by murat a galaxy of crowds as we're seeing they're increasingly coming out on to the streets in in despair or in anger will perhaps get up to

a moment more in detail but just on the president he's been meeting local officials as well what's come out of it well he was very direct using very strong language saying that you know what led to this is criminal negligence and carelessness on behalf of officials he said that the actions of every single official related involved in these horrific tragedy will be evaluated that those responsible will be punished this is this is the promise that he made also to could dig corruption say you know if you give money they'll give you any sort of permit without checking without checking anything heads heads will roll here but the pictures now. of the protest live in these people upset their anguish incredibly sad and they're angry they're angry with authorities

they're demanding the truth is saying that the reaction from authorities from the fire service was inadequate very angry that you know the conditions under which so many people died were allowed to happen to take hold because of authorities because of officials because of negligence because they did not control things because they gave out problem that where they were undeserved and they did not check that this shopping center. was safe safe to be there now demanding answers from two representatives the city mayor and the governor i believe.

yes that's just what we're seeing at the moment as well it was saying you know local officials coming trying trying really. answer some of the many questions that the public them are are raising here. you're talking about the present really corruption was one of its key election things it's going to be first and foremost here as well isn't it. the people here that died let's not let's not of course how many children die in this sixty four people we don't know the final figures of children here at the moment but you can understand why so much and i pouring of anger and frustration of sadness is on the streets right now. look at this with the brief that putin was given learned a few tidbits that we had heard about before that. confirm the fire itself began in

. the cave in the shopping center on the fourth floor it was caused by malfunctioning electronics a short circuit perhaps bad wiring. a fire that was set on purpose and opened fire so that somebody might have taken a light at the something that is less likely say investigators this is early days yet but they're looking. they're looking into it and want to cause this so we expect more details but the moment the far too cold everything went south everything went wrong the fire had been a malfunctioning and had been offline for more than a week since the nineteenth that's extraordinary for a full week seven days that there was no functioning fire alarm. nothing exactly new but you nobody fixed it but they had a backup system that you know you had to press a button security at the press a button and that be an alarm that would sound around the building nobody pressed

it nobody press this button there was no warning the only warning people had that something was wrong is when they had that smoke dense theek smoke come to woods and the smoke in a fog like this it travels incredibly quickly. if you know you have to run to outpace it which is why people were breaking windows. opening doors anything to get the smoke to get the smoke out but the other problem was. the doors locked the doors in the cinema itself and they were locked apparently locked by the people who people who were supposed to be watching them by management so that without tickets couldn't get enough the showing after the film's start and this is incredible because usually you have similar sitting at the door waiting for the duration of the movie for it to be over you know nobody goes into it isn't

supposed to that isn't supposed to be in that in this case the fog begad the doors unlocked and all the people inside predominantly children are stuck they couldn't get out and they're calling their fathers their mothers saying we're stuck in here we're suffocating please help and you have parents who left their children who left them in the cinema in the arcade room in the pay room and went about the shopping center about their business you know shopping whatever it is we do see they have to do something kids that are better left perhaps with an elder sibling you go with your younger children to the cinema the parents do the shopping especially on the sunday afternoon which would have been very busy a lot of other people around so you're saying that the other parents that just weren't there there on the lower floors the cinema was on the higher the fourth floor at believe. the aspect of it made it much more difficult to get. exactly one father he left his three daughters five to eleven years old in the

cinema he went downstairs to the first floor doing whatever he was doing get a phone call from one of his daughters saying track. supplicating there's a flash by the time he got to the fourth floor it was too late it was full of smoke he tried to try to use a wet cloth. but he couldn't do it he had to he had to go back. to his door to. imagine how poor rick. that must have been so you couldn't understand why these people and camera of a so upset why they're so enraged so angry why they're demanding with truth and accountability five people have been arrested so far they expect more arrests you know for sixty four people that have died six still missing but earlier on i put together a report about the loss that these people have taken about why

they're so angry why camera is a city on the edge and i must warn viewers that they may find some of this distressing. i ran upstairs cinema stuff didn't let me see through the pushed me my daughter asked me why no one was saving her i asked if i meant to do something but he just stared. around two third floor firemen stood there do nothing in front of the door my daughter saw me that she loved me and that she was suffocating i told it to get down on the floor and back her not to die the children our dear it isn't a matter of how many are dead now unless we change something hundreds of others could die no matter how long we stand here no matter how loud we shout no one will hear us. yes just as we are we will get of course to your piece in

just a moment we wanted to show just pictures of what we have been seeing all morning long there in cameroon one of the people who is speaking there believe was a father and can you imagine this three of his children died that you can just imagine what is coming out of him how he's thinking over the past three days since this occurred a lot of people surrounding him really trying to give him support for also wanting to hear what he has to say what other people in his predicament. are feeling today so much anger are there as well but what we do really we want to hear of. your report i saw earlier you really give such a great description of of the children of the parents of the school children who were going on a day. from the countryside to the city me looking forward to it for such a long time i would imagine there are day there person stay ending in utter

catastrophe we know just have a look at peace please. we can understand the. rule youngsters a visit to the big city is always an adventure these twelve year old classmates went to town and they went bowling ice skating to the cinema it would be their last adventure. this. is the new look. dozens and dozens dead but they aren't just numbers they all had names lives all the compensation in the world won't cover their family's loss especially given that so many of the victims were children masha was there were. grandmother

and she you need turned ten last week and posted this photo in line exactly a decade is all she got in this world both she and her grandmother perished. tiana an english teacher she was there with her daughter who survived the tiana got out of the building before hearing that others was still trapped she went to help rescue who she could strangers but she never came back out you were the best teacher in the world right of former students you didn't deserve this we will all remember you stood up to it to you and. this is what you did. little rats aboard pictured here with his mom and dad she wasn't with them but imagine her pain when she had to identify the bodies of

her child and husband or even surviving is easy. some say he jumped others that his father threw him out of the window in a desperate effort to save his little boy before succumbing to the smoke him self we won't know until say gave weeks out from his coma alone his parents and little sister. there are too many to mention here but the point is made a list of names is one thing but it's only when you get to know them just a little that the depth of this tragedy really hits you. really evocative piece just giving an example of of some of the people touched in the tragedy and ruckus the it is with me in the studio we have been going back and forth to live pictures from camera where people are out in force people are angry

people are sad people want answers to what is going on why so many people died in that blaze. we've been listening to speakers that was touched directly by the tragedy a father of three three children who perished in this disaster speaking as well also you're seeing earlier officials from the region. well this. story is particularly touching because as i said he left his three do with his five year old and two eleven year olds in the cinema to watch to went downstairs for whatever reason to show up to go about his business and he gets a call from one of his daughters who was the stressed saying that there was smoke all over the place that they were trapped the doors were locked and they couldn't get out by the time he got to the fourth floor it was full of smoke there was no

getting it he says he smashed a window but that didn't help somebody gave him a wet rag to put in the space he tried to head in through the smoke with. you couldn't do it trying to get. you couldn't get past the smoke so he ran downstairs he ran out he found firemen who were. who had just arrived and who were preparing to go in he says he screamed out that he begged them to hurry up but they spend he says three minutes just putting their masks on just putting their costs on by the time they were equipped that they were ready he was you know on the edge he was carrying them up they got up stairs. as. and somebody somebody diverted them he says security i believe or somebody else they told them to to head somewhere else and they went somewhere out so he was left there everything that

happened. with nothing he couldn't go when the family had to go somewhere outs and his dog kept calling him throughout this time his daughter kept calling him begging have father to come help come rescue and he couldn't do it imagine. what that must have been like for a thought and he said. ok what we will do now we'll just keep a very close eye because we want to see who these speakers are what answers they're coming with and what we are hearing from them in the in the moment. let's just bring up that they put it into some kind of context what happened on sunday here that plays in camera that has been called one of the deadliest in russia in the past century here's a look at the truth of how the tragedy unfolded on sunday. in

the spot. i knew my device even you see. the body i still think i'm not so much the monarchy complicity in the church itself . but i was. the first of that you know. how.

so it's a sort of what if. ok let's again return to our live pictures from camp that siberian city which saw the tragedy on sunday were sixty four people died in a shopping center firing many children lots of people coming onto the streets repeatedly right through the day it's now twenty past two in the afternoon in cameras and you have been listening or we have been listening at least to a local official speaking and also getting first hand testimony from. one parent

who lost three. children. let's not listen in to actually what is being said. give us all the records give us the eyewitness accounts. the red kids the food there all of the. good pictures we doing to pick choose. ok how many buses with. this information put in the public to make it public make everything public make all the rickets public there was a number of buses here with a number of emergencies units available for evacuation give us all the information public. when we call the camera then how many buses we had one more question maybe

state security but why is the investigation. doing all the information. why do you hiding it. so when investigation criminal investigation is lou and just . this kind of situation or another one. ok why do we need to tie the information why didn't i did my. what's the. points the investigation needs to be open on. that. fire alarm system. said that it was operational. inspected its who you passed the judgment that it was operational. well the lady talked about the electrician. you can. hear. now the person guilty until proven guilty we have

a. presumption of innocence. you cannot call a brain on the electrician. how can we believe you that this is a real investigation there wouldn't be any fake identities who will be brought. to justice it's a closed investigation. many people die. after wards. the is. best to gates is will tell us prove us that it's not that way. now once again and once again i'm telling you. we have big shots coming from moscow emergencies ministry officials and people like that. why why to have

a real investigation. division if we why are they here to question you. know to plan their. theory of what's happened now will provide you the information once we know. how do you prove it's real it's. truth because we know there have been rumors the many more did. ok let's do it all together. ok let's put. together this just give us the number of victims the number of bodies dead bodies that you pulled out of. so that . the real truth right now.

you need to trust someone you know if you can trust a person who lost a relative then using male. student pareto we put up a website. we will. website and your information. email. will have all the information we need all the investigators in for investigation information. well during the investigation while the investigation is. we will not work a the means you are hiding something no we have professional the case. only feeds the information that we're supposed to hear not the real truth. here we're all the people there all. people. using them.

ok what we have been listening to there was a local official really just a question answer a lot of questions being thrown out and. you know it's very difficult i'm sure in his situation to try and give some answers he's saying just stick together we're trying to get information out when we know it at vladimir putin is also in the siberian city he was paying his respects to those killed in the deadly fire promising that those responsible will face justice. you know. you are. looking forward to. the future. of our correspondent. being in camera over the past twenty four hours or longer and

date. joins us live on the program. we're getting a sense just from the live pictures that we've been showing the frustration the sadness in this city. speaking to people what are they saying. well you know you're very right the tragedy has. this is why this many people have decided to come to this. course a lot of people couldn't make it because well because they had. work but they are supporting this meeting by. getting out of buses. screaming in support of these people really they want one thing they want truth they want. they want justice so what they're saying. this is pretty much what everyone in this city is talking about is that they are

afraid that the real number of casualties is much higher than the official one provided by the authorities saying that there are. three hundred people may have died in the fire and of course this from what we've heard from the russian investigative committee from the fire brigades from the rescue group there say they have no information about this but this is something very this is an opinion very very popular among taxi drivers. regular people who show up to the vigil. bringing flowers to commemorate. to commemorate to commemorate the dead this is what the born people also want everyone responsible in the horrific tragedy that occurred on sunday they want all of them punished they want justice and they are asking questions how was this tragedy even possible how's it possible that the whole fire prevention system did not work that there was no alarm and that people

had to break doors had to break fire exits the very paths to the very paths that they were intended to lead people to safety here are a few sound bites from this from this gathering have a. clear i ran upstairs cinema stuff didn't let me see through they pushed me my daughter asked me why no one was saving her i asked if i meant to do something but he just stared. around two third floor firemen stood there do nothing in front of the door my daughter saw me that should love me and that she was suffocating upholder to get down on the floor backs her not to. the children our dear it isn't a matter of how many are dead now unless we change something hundreds of others could die no matter how long we stand here no matter how loud we shout no one will hear us. so you've heard them now of

course everyone has a different degree experience we've talked to some survivors yesterday and they one of them told us that in fact security guards were the ones who alarmed them about the situation now of course that happened only after they smelled the smoke. who's in the city right now he called the whole the whole tragedy a result of criminal negligence and in fact promised that anyone that everyone who is responsible for this will be brought to justice you but it's. if you've been watching the program. just a few minutes ago the russian investigative committee they have they have announced some preliminary results today in fact corroborated the claim. fire risk of fire exits were locked they are suspecting that one of the security guards may have switched the fire prevention system off so apparently they think that it was in

place it. just was shut down so they have brought into questioning five people no one has been charged yet but they are investigating. questioning among those five people they are questioning the owner of the shopping mall. the fire this is what we know now we are staying in the city and. amidst the city in mourning today. thank you. is also with me in the studio listening in there as well. as said very direct language from him this is criminal negligence this is complete this this wasn't a war zone or you know expected. buildup in the mine this was a shopping center which was equipped.