Five dead, 30 wounded in Siberia shopping mall fire

Five people including a child have died and another 30 were wounded in a major fire in a Siberian shopping centre, Russia's Investigative Committee said today.

"Three women, a child and a man have been killed" and 30 people hospitalised following the blaze in the Winter Cherry shopping centre in Kemerovo, an industrial city in central Siberia, it said in a statement.

Firefighters were still battling to get the blaze under control this afternoon, after more than 200 people were evacuated from the building, it added.

The Investigative Committee earlier said that three children and a woman had died.

Authorities believe the fire broke out in the centre's cinema and caused the roof to collapse above two auditoriums.

The flames spread across more than 1,000 square metres (11,000 feet) in the building, which has a bowling alley, sauna and several restaurants, Russian media reported.