Russia mourns 64 victims of deadly fire in Siberia

People light candles to commemorate the victims of Sunday’s fire in a shopping mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, in the center of Moscow, on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. Several Russian cities including Moscow are holding rallies to commemorate the dead. AP 

MOSCOW — Flags are flying at half-staff across Russia as the country grieves for the victims, many of them children, of the deadly shopping mall fire in Siberia.

Russia is observing a day of mourning on Wednesday, with thousands of people across the country bringing flowers and stuffed toys to makeshift memorials.

Officials said 64 people died on Sunday in the fire at the mall in the city of Kemerovo, which was packed with parents and children on the first weekend of the school break.

Investigators identified a short circuit as a possible cause of the inferno, and said the mall emergency exits were locked shut, hampering an evacuation. Some of the victims died in a locked movie theater. /kga