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| At least 64 people including 41 children died in the mall fire in Siberia last weekend (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov) |
Moscow (AFP) - The longtime governor of a Russian region where a huge mall inferno killed dozens of people -- most of them children -- resigned on Sunday 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
swiftly 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.
Some
parents lost all their children, and the youngest victim was a two-year-old
boy.
Many people
who lost relatives have said they perished because of inaction by firefighters
and police lacking the necessary equipment and skills, while some said a cinema
door was locked, trapping children inside.
Kremlin
about-face
Tuleyev,
who himself lost a young relative in the blaze, came under heavy criticism for
failing to visit the scene of the tragedy in the first few days or meet with
angry relatives.
Putin had
initially refused to sack the 73-year-old governor despite a rare protest which
saw thousands of people pack a square in Kemerovo on Tuesday, the same day
Putin travelled to the scene of the tragedy.
Tuleyev apologised to the president over the rally -- where protesters also called for Putin's resignation -- calling its organisers troublemakers.
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Aman
Tuleyev, shown with Putin after a mine explosion in 2010, was one of
Russia's
longest-serving top governors (AFP Photo/ALEXEI NIKOLSKY)
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Tuleyev apologised to the president over the rally -- where protesters also called for Putin's resignation -- calling its organisers troublemakers.
Officials
have said that multiple safety rules were violated, the fire alarm system was
not working and staff did not follow correct emergency procedures.
The
four-storey shopping mall was redeveloped several times and previously housed a
sweet factory.
Seven
people have been arrested in the aftermath of the blaze, investigators said.
The ailing
Tuleyev had long been expected to leave the post.
The
Kemerovo region of around 2.7 million people has traditionally been considered
one of Russia's most troubled areas and some have feared that Tuleyev's
departure could spark a leadership crisis there.
Tuleyev,
who first became governor in the era of president Boris Yeltsin in 1997, is one
of Russia's longest-serving top officials.
He was credited with helping pacify the region which was beset by miners' strikes in the turbulent 1990s but had come to symbolise the worst excesses of authoritarianism in his later years, critics say.
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A makeshift
memorial has been set up in tribute to the victims of a deadly shopping
mall fire in the Siberian city of Kemerovo (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov) |
He was credited with helping pacify the region which was beset by miners' strikes in the turbulent 1990s but had come to symbolise the worst excesses of authoritarianism in his later years, critics say.
'Hated by
everyone'
Lev
Shlosberg, a former lawmaker and rights activist, said Tuleyev "had become
senile", adding that the tragedy had clearly shown that Russia turned into
a "mafia" state.
"This
is not an emotional or symbolic but a very concrete state of the authorities:
they do not represent people and absolutely do not defend the interests of
citizens because they do not depend on them in any way and do not hear
them," he wrote in a blog.
"The
life of an ordinary man in a mafia state costs nothing."
"Tuleyev
is an example of how one climbs down from the throne after failing to leave on
time: disgraced and hated by everyone, with stains of blood and someone else's
tears," one commentator said on Twitter.
Opposition
politician Vladimir Milov said it would take "decades" for the region
to recover from Tuleyev's 21-year rule.
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Thousands
of people packed a square in Kemerovo to protest over the Russian
authorities'
response to the deadly mall fire (AFP Photo/Dmitry Serebryakov)
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Sergei
Tsivilyov, who has been Tuleyev's deputy since March, has been appointed acting
governor, the Kremlin said.
Tsivilyov
is a business partner of one of Putin's closest lieutenants, Gennady Timchenko,
who has been under sanctions imposed on Russia for its role in the Ukraine
conflict.
Tsivilyov's
behaviour in the aftermath of the blaze has raised eyebrows.
Igor Vostrikov,
a man who lost his wife, sister and three children aged two, five and seven
years, accused the authorities of treating people "like dirt".
Tsivilyov
responded by accusing him of a "PR stunt" but later went down on his
knees in front of the crowd massed in Kemerovo, asking for forgiveness over the
fire.
Polls to
elect a new governor will be held in September.
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