Russian governor resigns over deadly blaze at shopping mall

 After governed the coal-mining region in western Siberia for more than 20 years, the Governor of Russia’s Kemerovo region resigned,   over a mall fire in which  more than 60 was killed after a litany of violations in safety procedures left shoppers and children trapped inside the building.

Aman Tuleyev, said in a video posted on the regional administration’s website that he could no longer remain in office with “such a heavy burden,” his resignation is the only possible moral course. President Vladimir Putin accepted his resignation, the Kremlin said.

It is one of the deadliest fire in Russia since the break-up of the Soviet Union, swept through a cinema complex and children’s play area on the upper floors of the Winter Cherry shopping centre in the regional capital.

 While investigating, it was found  that fire exits had been illegally blocked, the public address system was not switched on, the alarm system was broken, and children had been locked inside cinemas, said investigators.

‘Criminal negligence’

Mr. Putin (Russian politician) said the incident had been caused by criminal carelessness and those responsible would be punished. Sergei Tsivilyov, was appointed one of the region’s Deputy Governors by him, to replace Mr. Tuleyev as acting governor.

Mr. Tsivilyov,  has served for the past four years as the director of Kolmar, a coal mining and processing company. Police arrested an executive to resolved  that owns the shopping mall.