Russian fire in shopping mall kills at least 64
A deadly fire broke out in the theater of the Winter Cherry mall in Kemerovo, Russia, March 26, killing at least 64 people, with many others being reported missing and feared dead. The fire started on the upper floor of the building, where a bowling alley, movie theater and shops were full of people. 41 of the victims from the fire were children who were trapped in the movie theater, according to reports. No fire alarms sounded, and exits were blocked. Additionally, the fire extinguishers in the building did not work. Many victims took to calling family and loved ones in their last moments.
The cause of the fire is unknown, but according to Deputy Governor Chernov, “The preliminary suspicion is that a child had a cigarette lighter which ignited foam rubber in this trampoline room, and it erupted like gunpowder.” However, many believe the fire started from faulty electrical wiring, as has been the case with most of Russia’s deadly fires. This tragedy has sparked protests, with thousands of citizens holding the Russian government accountable for the fire.
Palestinians killed by Israeli government during six-week protest
According to the Palestinian Health ministry, 12 people were killed and over 750 injured during a six-week protest on the Gaza-Israeli border. The Israeli military cites, “rioting” in six different places as the reason for firing on thousands of Palestinians who have set up camps along the border during what has been called the Great March of Return. The Israeli government claims to have only fired on protesters who attempted to attack the integrity of the border fence. According to the Israel Defense Forces, there are about 17,000 Palestinians at the border. The protest is scheduled to last until May 15, the anniversary of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 during the conflict of the creation of Israel.
Chilean scientists condemn American research on tiny mummy
After researchers published a study on a tiny mummy originating from Atacama, Chile, the government of Chile began an inquiry into the legality of the the mummy’s acquisition. The mummy had long been rumored to be an alien due to its cone-shaped head and six-inch stature; however, by sequencing DNA from the mummy’s genome, the study found that the mummy was in fact the body of a stillborn human girl with a mutated bone structure.
After publication, many scientists from Chile called into question the ethics of how the mummified body was obtained, worrying it was stolen from a grave and smuggled into America illegally. Records from Chile indicate that the body was indeed plundered from a graveyard by a man named Oscar Muñoz and ended up in a private collection in Spain. The authors of the study, Garry P. Nolan, an immunologist at Stanford University, and Atul Butte of the University of California, San Francisco, claim they had no idea of the illegal origin of the mummy. Cristina Dorado, a biologist at the University of Antofagasta, contends, “If samples are obtained unethically, any resulting science is not ethical.”
