World News for Students of English

02-04-2018 07:00

A mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo caught fire last Sunday, leaving 64 people dead. The cause of the fire was identified as a short circuit.

At the time of the fire, the mall was full of families with children, as it was the first weekend of the school break, and 41 of the victims were children. The death toll was so high because the emergency exists in the mall were locked shut and the fire alarm was switched off.

President Putin arrived in the city and blamed ‘criminal negligence’ for the fire and said that all those guilty would be punished. Police later arrested an executive with the firm that owns the shopping mall.

Thousands of angry people protested at the offices of the local government, saying that the leaders must be sacked over the fire safety shortcomings. Under heavy public criticism, the governor of the Kemerovo region resigned.

Difficult words: short circuit (when something goes wrong and an electric machine catches fire), death toll (the number of people who died), negligence (not caring about something), executive (the head of a business), sack (fire from work), shortcomings (not meeting a certain standard).

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