Siberian mall fire leaves 53 dead

At least 53 people have died after a fire swept through the Winter Cherry shopping mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo, 2,200 miles east of Moscow.

Authorities say that a further 16 people, including children, are yet to be accounted for. Thick smoke and fears that the building will collapse have hampered search-and-rescue efforts.

Witnesses inside the shopping centre say there was no fire alarm, no sprinklers and that exit doors were locked.

Russian news agency Tass says 100 people got out of the shopping centre, and fire fighters rescued a further 20.

One child, 11-year-old Sergey Moskalenko, jumped from a fourth-floor window, crashed onto an awning above a doorway and “miraculously survived”, says the Siberian Times.

It is not known what caused the fire, which appears to have started on the top floor, near a cinema complex inside the shopping centre.