Russia Mourns the Victims of Kemerovо - Thousands of Moscovites Visit Memorial to Fire Victims

We now return to the Manezhnaya Square in the heart of the capital, where 3 hours ago a spontaneous memorial was set up in honor of those who died in the fire in the Zimnyaya Vishnya (Winter Cherry) mall. By now, thousands of Moscow residents and city guests have visited the grief site. Our correspondent Nikolay Vasilyev is on live with the Vesti studio. - Nikolay, hello. What is happening on the Manezhnaya Square at this moment? - Hello, Ernest. Just look at all these people, flowers, and candles. At the end of the workday, the flow of people who want to give their condolences to Kemerovo residents increases. People bring flowers, candles, candy, pictures of those who died in the Kemerovo fire. They bring it here, to the heart of Russia, by the Kremlin walls, near the Armory Tower. People who come here are local residents, as well as people from the country's other regions who happen to be visiting Moscow right now. People who used to live in Kemerovo, and still have families and friends there. This is how people explain their desire to come here and kneel before these people's memorial. "None of my family members or friends have died there. However, the pain remains, because we are one, we all live on our Earth". "I was born in Kemerovo, my entire family is there. Honestly, I couldn't have come here, I couldn't ignore this". "I'm a father myself, and I just can't ignore this tragedy". - I want to pay my tribute to those poor children who were in this horrible situation. - Mommy, you're crying. - I won't cry, honey. The grief site was set up as soon as a National Mourning Day had been declared. During the day, Moscow's Mayor Sergey Sobyanin came here to put up flowers. Earlier, Moscow residents brought wreaths, flowers, toys, and candy to the Kuzbas authorities. They brought them today, so getting through Bolshaya Tatarskaya St. is very hard. The entire place is covered with flowers. You can visit the grief site on March 28th, on a National Mourning Day. Today, in order to express their condolences, the Russian Broadcast Network decided not to turn on the lights on the Ostankino Tower, as you can see it now. You can also see that the crowd on the Manezhnaya Square isn't getting any smaller. They keep bringing more flowers. You can come here on Wednesday, March 28th. I remind you that this day was declared a National Mourning Day to honor the victims of the Kemerovo fire. - Thank you, Nikolay. That was our correspondent Nikolay Vasilyev, live from the Manezhnaya Square.