AMN
The longtime Governor of Kemerovo region where a huge mall inferno killed dozens of people resigned today after bitter criticism over his response to the tragedy.
Aman Tuleyev, who had been at the helm of the coal-mining region of Kemerovo since 1997, said in a video address that he could no longer remain at his post with such a heavy burden and that quitting was the only right choice.
The Kremlin said that President Vladimir Putin had accepted his resignation. Tuleyev’s move is unusual as top officials in Russia rarely resign over failings in the emergency response to deadly tragedies.
But, the huge fire which ravaged a shopping centre in the Siberian industrial city of Kemerovo last Sunday, killing at least 64 people including 41 children, plunged Russia into shock.