Kharkiv mall bombing death toll climbs to 16, rescue efforts ongoing
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The death toll from the May 25 Russian glide bomb attack on the Epicenter shopping mall in Kharkiv has risen to 16, with 43 others injured, including several in serious condition, regional governor Oleh Synehubov reported on May 26.
Seventeen employees and visitors are still unaccounted for, according to Serhiy Bolvinov, head of the regional investigation department of the national police. Authorities are collecting DNA samples from relatives of the missing to help with identification.
Efforts continue to clear the rubble of the destroyed hypermarket, where about 200 people were present at the time of the attack.
The attack on the Epicenter was followed by another Russian strike on downtown Kharkiv around 7 p.m. local time. Eighteen people were injured, including a 13-year-old boy in serious condition who has already undergone surgery. The enemy fired an S-300 missile near an office center in the Shevchenkivskyi district, according to Regional Chief Prosecutor Oleksandr Filchakov.
A post office, a hair salon, and a cafe were near the missile strike's epicenter, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said.
“Guided bombs and missiles against the usual buildings of Kharkiv, the usual civilian life of the city. A construction hypermarket has burned to the ground, and firefighting is still underway,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his May 25 evening address to the nation, noting that Kharkiv Oblast had been on air-raid alert for more than 12 hours.
“There were hits on the central park, on ordinary houses. The exact number of dead is still unknown. In total, 43 people were injured that day in the city of Kharkiv alone.”
The response to the attacks involved nearly 200 rescuers, dozens of vehicles, and 400 police officers.
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