Fire guts second Moscow region shopping centre in four days

Blaze at a construction supplies hypermarket in Balashikha caused part of the roof to collapse

RUSSIA/ BALASHIKHA:

A shopping centre in the Moscow region was damaged in a major fire on Monday, emergency services said, the second such blaze in less than a week.

Pictures published on Telegram by Russia's emergencies ministry showed that the fire at a construction supplies hypermarket in Balashikha, a satellite town of 500,000 people on the outskirts of the Russian capital, had caused part of the roof to collapse, with smoke billowing into the air.

The ministry said the fire had grown to 9,000 sq m (100,000 sq feet) before being brought under control. The Investigative Committee, which is responsible for serious crimes, said it had opened an investigation.

On Friday, a fire at a large shopping centre in the Moscow suburb of Khimki killed one person and consumed an area of 7,000 sq m