World News for Students of English

02-04-2018 07:00

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

Sixty-four people died in this fire, as it was the first weekend of school break and the mall was full of families with children. Forty-one of the victims were children. So many people died because of fire safety shortcomings – the emergency exits were locked and the fire alarm was switched off.

Putin visited the city and said that this was terrible and criminal, and that the guilty ones would be punished. Police later arrested people from the firm that owns the shopping mall.

Thousands of people protested at the offices of the local government, and they were angry that so many people died because of bad fire safety. Under heavy public criticism, the governor of the Kemerovo region stepped down.

Difficult words: short circuit (when something goes wrong and an electric machine catches fire), victim (a person who dies in an accident), shortcomings (not meeting a certain standard).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.