MOSCOW: One person died Friday in a massive blaze the size of a football pitch which broke out overnight in a sprawling shopping and entertainment centre in a northern Moscow suburb.
"In the Moscow region, firefighters are putting out a fire the size of 7,000 square metres (75,300 square feet)," Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said on Telegram.
Russian media later reported that one person had been killed in the fire at the Mega Khimki shopping centre, about seven kilometres (four miles) from Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport.
More than 70 firefighters and 20 fire trucks were working at the site, emergency services said, adding that their work was hampered due to the design of the building.
"Due to the collapse of the roof, the fire spread instantly to a large area," the Moscow region's emergency services said on Telegram.
Russian news agencies quoted sources in emergency services as saying that "arson" was suspected but state news agencies later quoted sources as saying that safety violations were more likely the cause.
Videos on social media showed a huge fire, with people fleeing the burning building into a parking lot.
US-South Korean joint military exercises infuriate Pyongyang, which views them as rehearsals for an invasion and has...
Dogged by scandal in his later years, George Pell was the highest-ranking Catholic to be imprisoned for child sexual...
Beijing's growing assertiveness on Taiwan and its building of bases in disputed South China Sea have given fresh...
Adani's empire has lost more than $100 billion following explosive allegations of accounting fraud last week by US...
General Atomic Aeronautical Systems says it had been urging Washington for months to provide Ukraine its powerful Grey...
US central bank announces quarter-point hike to benchmark lending rate, taking the rate to a target range of...