Aman Tuleyev, the longtime governor of Russia's Kemerovo region, resigned Sunday over a huge mall fire that killed at least 64 people, most of them children, in the city of Kemerovo.

"The governor of Kemerovo region, Aman Tuleyev, handed Russian President Vladimir Putin his resignation letter," a statement released by his office said.

Tuleyev had been at the helm of the key coal-mining region since 1997.

(Source: AFP)