Several Russian cities held rallies to commemorate the dead. Kemerovo is a Siberian city where at least 64 people, two-thirds of them kids, died from a fire in a mall cinema because the doors had been locked and the fire alarm shut off.
The children were frantically text-messaging their parents and screaming for help into cellphones. One fifth-grade student, Maria Moroz, posted: "We're burning. It's probably goodbye. So, my friend Val was correct; the Kemerovo fire does deserve serious attention here, not only because it is a gripping human story, but because it reveals so much about Russians and about Vladimir Putin โ at a time when our two countries are increasingly at odds.
State-run news channels initially tried to ignore the fire in favor of tirades at Europe's expulsion of Russian diplomats. But TV news soon had to turn to condolences โ and coverage of Putin's rushed trip to Kemerovo. Inquirer Morning Newsletter Get the news you need to start your day Sign Up Inquirer Morning Newsletter When the Russian leader arrived in Kemerovo , people were entirely banned from the streets and sidewalks as his motorcade sped through.
He never met with the crowd of enraged families and friends who gathered outside the cinema. He referred to the tragedy as "a demographic problem" because kids died. And no wonder they were outraged. In cases such as the mall fire, the welfare of individuals is usually treated with indifference by officials. In these cases, official rescuers killed hundreds of terrified hostages by launching a gas attack inside the theater and a shooting attack on the school.
In this case, asks Albats, "when it became known that the doors were locked, why did no one [of the cinema staff or rescue teams] run to unlock the kids or give the keys to the firemen? We have nuclear cruise missiles, but we don't have what is needed to save kids from jumping from the fourth floor? And Igor Vostrikov , a father who lost three children, his wife, and his sister, furiously attacked Putin on his VKontakte page the Russian equivalent of Facebook , saying: "My family is no more.
