Second Moscow shopping centre hit by fire
12 December 2022, 10:44
A guard was taken to hospital after inhaling toxic fumes from the blaze, the second in the area in four days.
A massive fire damaged a shopping centre on the eastern outskirts of Moscow on Monday, the second such blaze in four days.
The blaze in Balashikha, at a mall which trades in construction items and home decoration materials, first erupted in a storage area and then spread through the building.
A guard was taken to hospital after inhaling toxic fumes from the fire.
Fire crews managed to contain it to an area of about 97,000 square feet (9,000 square metres) and prevent it from engulfing the entire complex.
Officials said the blaze was caused by a short circuit that came amid heavy rain in Moscow.
It followed a fire on Friday that destroyed the huge OBI construction materials store, part of the Mega shopping mall in Khimki on the Russian capital’s north-western outskirts.
Officials said the blaze, in which a security guard was killed, was sparked by welding that apparently violated safety regulations.
