YEREVAN, MARCH 29, ARMENPRESS. 21 families of the victims of the shopping mall fire have received compensation from the Kemerovo regional budget in Russia, a local official said.

“The payments are already underway. Payments were made on March 28 and 21 people already received financial resources”, he said.

Earlier the governor of Kemerovo Oblast said the families of the fatalities will receive 1 million rubles in compensation each.

The fire at the Zimnyaya Vishnya (Winter Cherry) shopping mall in central Kemerovo erupted on Sunday on the top floor of the four-storey building engulfing an area of some 1,500 square meters. According to the latest data, 64 people were killed, many of them children, and more than 40 others sought medical assistance. A criminal investigation has been launched.

English –translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan