Russian mall executive arrested over fire

Russian police have arrested an executive with the firm that owns a shopping mall where a fire last weekend killed 64 people, most of them children.

Russia's Investigative Committee, the state body that investigates major crimes, said in a statement on Friday that Yulia Bogdanova had failed to address shortcomings in fire safety at the shopping mall.

Bogdanova is the general director of a firm called OAO Kemerovo Confectionary Combine, the owner of the "Winter Cherry" mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo where the fire broke out on Sunday.

At the time, the top floor of the complex, where the fire started, was packed with families visiting a cinema and a children's play area. Investigators said fire exits were blocked and the fire alarm system failed to function.

"The investigation established that Bogdanova, as the person responsible for fire safety, was repeatedly informed by subordinates about shortcomings in the building's fire safety system."