A fire in a shopping mall in central Russia has left at least 15 people dead, with 17 more missing, rescue workers say.
The search for survivors under the rubble of the mall in Kazan, the capital of the Russian republic of Tatarstan, was ongoing, but there was little hope of finding survivors two days after the fire broke out Wednesday, the local branch of the Emergency Situations Ministry said.
Ministry spokesman Andrei Rodygin told the Interfax news agency that more than 17 people remain unaccounted for, while the bodies of 15 victims have been identified.
Among them is a senior fire brigade officer who was inspecting the burning building's interior, when the roof collapsed. Sergei Kostin's body was pulled from the rubble on Friday, the ministry said.
More than 40 people were injured in the fire, but more than 600 managed to escape unhurt.
Investigators said they have not ruled out the possibility that the fire was started by arsonists.
A local court on Friday sanctioned the arrest of the shopping mall's chief executive on charges of violating fire safety regulations.
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