There's no catastrophe more heinous than the death of children, and what happened in Kemerovo on Sunday cannot be translated into words, while the nationwide tragedy made people think about the mistakes of modern life in Russia and united them in the opinion that this should never be repeated, the Russian cultural figures told the correspondents of Vestnik Kavkaza, expressing their condolences to the families and friends of the victims of a fire in the Zimnyaya Vishnya shopping mall in Kemerovo.
IFESCCO executive director, the former general director of the Bolshoi Theatre, Anatoly Iksanov, stressed that civilian casualties, especially among children, is a terrible tragedy, which causes great sympathy. "At the same time, it causes an internal protest - why it happens in modern society, when we know that there are social gathering places? We see that the world has become a dangerous place. The responsibility lies with those organizations and people who give building permits for imperfect buildings, and this should be dealt in the first place," he urged.
"Unfortunately, it often happens that a tragedy happens, and only after it inspections all over the country are started. But why can't we do it all the time? There are also specialized firefighting, technical and other organizations that should be engaged in it on an ongoing basis. It's frightening that this may not be the last tragedy - that's just terrible," Anatoly Iksanov emphasized.
IFESCCO executive director noted that it is hard to find words that could comfort parents who have lost their children. "It's really hard, but I was struck by the universal support in our country for these people. No money can repay those terrible losses - and the only thing we can really help them with is sympathy. Today we feel the pain of our fellow citizens like our own pain," he concluded.
Russia's producer Iosif Prigozhin said that he perceived the Kemerovo tragedy as a personal grief. "This is a tragedy for the whole country. I cannot come to my senses for days, and everything around is paralyzed, because one cannot understand how this could happen in the 21st century. We need to draw conclusions from the situation, and let the blood of these innocent victims will be the last loss! At least as a token of memory and respect we need to do everything to prevent it in the future," he urged, adding that if the tragedy repeats, it would be a betrayal of the Kemerovo victims' memory.
"I mourn with our multinational people in Russia. When such a grief occurs, a person grows numb, he can only feel compassion and worry, but he also should analyze and seek some way out of this situation. Today there are no words that could comfort families that have lost their children. I mourn and do not know what to say, I can only support these people and wish them courage. The most terrible tragedy is that innocent people suffer from ignorant negligence and slobbery. My heart bursts when I put myself in the position of Kemerovo citizens, who lost small children," Iosif Prigozhin admitted.
Former Director of the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia, Sergey Arkhangelov, also stressed that the tragedy of families who lost their loved ones in a fire in Kemerovo has become a common tragedy for the whole of Russia.
Sergey Arkhangelov noted that all the people these days support the families of victims of the Kemerovo fire. "The compassion that people show to this tragedy is very important, because if people are worried, then their souls are immortal," the former director of the State Central Museum of Contemporary History of Russia concluded.
