Volgograd residents hold pickets to condemn officials for tragedy in Kemerovo

In Volgograd, participants of eight solo pickets announced corruption and negligence of officials as the cause of the tragedy when dozens of people were killed by a fire at the "Winter Cherry" shopping centre in Kemerovo.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that in Kemerovo, the fire at the "Winter Cherry" shopping and entertainment complex began in the afternoon on March 25, and it was not possible to extinguish it until the other day. The fire killed 64 people, including 13 children. According to eyewitnesses, the fire alarm in the building failed, and people had to get evacuated on their own.

Today, from 2:00 till 3:00 p.m., in Volgograd, activists held solo pickets in Lenin Avenue from the "Komsomolskaya" to "Pionerskaya" stations. According to the calculations run by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, eight persons were involved in the pickets.

"A tragedy occurred in Kemerovo. Most likely, as usual in Russia, it happened because of corruption and the authorities' negligence. Therefore, I express my protest. I do not want similar things to happen again in our country," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was told by Daniel Kurakin, a participant of the pickets.

According to the picketer, the police reacted negatively to the protest action, but did not interfere with the picket.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.