Erdogan offers condolences to Russia over fire incident

By Ozcan Yildirim

ANKARA (AA) - President Recep Tayyip Erdogan offered condolences to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin over the fatal fire incident at a shopping mall in Siberia that killed at least 64 people.

"I learned with deep sorrow that many people, including several children, died in a fire in a shopping mall in Russia's city of Kemerovo,” Erdogan said in his message.

Erdogan extended his condolences to the Russian government and “the friendly Russian people”.

The fire in the Siberian city of Kemerovo started on the mall’s fourth and top floors on Sunday and then consumed an area of about 1,600 square meters, according to Russian firefighting officials.

Twenty people were rescued from the building and some 100 others were evacuated while 16 people remain missing.

Three days of mourning have also been declared in Kemerovo starting Tuesday.