As many as 41 children may be among the victims, and 16 people are missing, Russian officials say.

The blaze started on an upper floor of the Winter Cherry complex while many of the victims were at the cinema.

Video posted on social media showed people jumping from windows to escape the flames on Sunday.

“According to preliminary information, the roof collapsed in two cinemas,” Russia’s Investigative Committee said in a statement.

The cause of the fire is not yet known and authorities have launched an investigation.

Some 660 emergency personnel were deployed in the rescue effort. Firefighters tackled the blaze for more than 17 hours.

Kemerovo, a key coal-producing area, lies about 3,600km (2,200 miles) east of Moscow.

Where did the fire start?

As well as a multiplex cinema, the shopping centre, which opened in 2013, includes restaurants, a sauna, a bowling alley and a petting zoo.

The fire is believed to have started at around 17:00 (10:00 GMT) on Sunday in a part of the building that contains the entertainment complex, local media report.

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Source: BBC

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Shoppers, plain revelers and of course, ‘movie and chow’ freaks in the Ashanti Regional capital, all said a big ‘thank you’ to Kumasi City Mall and W&D Cinema Limited, when four executive state-of-the-art movie theatres, all fitted with deluxe furnishing and superior acoustics and image projection, were unveiled for public use over the weekend.

The ‘Watch-and-Dine’ Cinema concept is an outright novelty worldwide and features a delightful fusion of the comfort and coziness of a plush movie theatre, with the pleasures of nourishment derived from a good restaurant or eatery.  All four screens at the cinema are 3D and projections are made with High Definition imaging equipment.

“What we have here at KCM is an uncommon concept even in the advanced countries. It is the best anyone can get of two worlds – a movie theatre and a restaurant – rolled into one. KCM’s ‘Watch and Dine’ happens to be the first of its kind in West Africa and is already ranked as the 13^th on the list of highly rated cinemas around the world!”  Osei Agyemang-Duah, Managing Director of W&D Cinema Limited told reporters.

Agyemang-Duah said Kumasi City Mall’s Watch-and-Dine is extremely classy and up to scratch that it has already been rated among cinema heavyweights like the AMC Dine-In in the United States, the Odeon Lounge in the United Kingdom and the Nu Metro Cinema in South Africa.

The Cinema has four screens and a total of 330 seats, comprising 30 seats in a VVIP theatre, 56 Seats in a VIP and two standard theatres, with seating capacities of 137 and 107 respectively while the restaurant offers a lip-smacking variety of continental and local fast-foods. All four theatres operate seat reservation schedules for customers.

Within just days of its opening, ‘Watch-and-Dine’ is already one of the mall’s busiest locations – an irresistible haven for cinema lovers seeking to enjoy movies outside their homes and get to munch on some excellent gourmet. The cinema has become the talk of the town across Kumasi as a perfect rendezvous enclave.

“We, (management of Kumasi City Mall) are extremely delighted with the successful opening of Watch-and-Dine because it brings to our cherished shoppers and patrons another compelling reason to stay on before or after their shopping, to enjoy some quality recreational time here at the mall,” said KCM’s Marketing Manager, John Bedu-Bonsu.

“With this, we (in Kumasi) are now streets ahead and claim full bragging rights for topnotch recreation over any other mall in the country,” said an elated Tony Bediako, a resident of Kumasi, as he stepped out of the theatre after watching a 2018 movie starred by Liam Neeson.

According to Kwabena Obeng, President and CEO of the Steaman Group and W&D Cinema, the facility will be officially commissioned on February 10, 2018.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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