Moscow: At least 37 people were killed in a fire in a shopping mall in the south central Russian city of Kemerovo on Sunday, while many others are missing, officials said.

Earlier reports said 69 people, including 40 children, were missing. Firefighters are working at the scene to search for the missing, Xinhua reported.

Around 120 people were evacuated from the burned building, of which more than 1,000 square meters were ripped through by the deadly fire, according to local news agency Sputnik.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry has planned to dispatch more rescuers to the scene, Russian Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov said.

The cause of fire at the shopping mall still remains unclear.

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Chennai, Nov 2: A 27-year-old native of Thiruvarur district, who had arrived from Sharjah, has tested negative for monkey pox, Health Minister Ma Subramanian said here on Saturday.

Test results from both the King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research here and the Pune-based National Institute of Virology have show negative for Mpox virus, the minister said.

Subramanian had earlier in the day told reporters that result was awaited for the sample that had been dispatched to the NIV while test result from King Institute ruled out monkey pox.

On October 31, upon his arrival at Tiruchirappalli airport from the UAE, during screening, the young man displayed fever symptoms and small skin lesions. Hence, he was taken to a government hospital.

Subramanian said the returnee had been frightened and hence left for his hometown of Valangaiman in Thiruvarur district. "This treatment is for his good and in order to prevent the spread of infection," the minister said.

Hence, he was brought back to the hospital by the authorities with police help and he has been receiving good treatment at the state-run facility. Further, Subramanian said that the test result from the government-run King Institute indicated Chickenpox and marked negative for presence of Mpox.

Screening at airports for passengers arriving from foreign countries is going on continuously in the state and international airports have dedicated isolated rooms.

Special wards are ready in government medical college hospitals, including those in Chennai and Tiruchirappalli, to provide treatment for Mpox, in case anyone tests positive for the infection, the minister added.