Fire ravaged one of the largest shopping malls near Moscow early on Friday morning, according to emergency services, causing a portion of the structure to collapse and complicating firefighters’ efforts to extinguish the flames.
The blaze engulfed approximately 75,000 square feet in the Mega shopping center in Khimki, close to the Russian capital, according to authorities. Authorities said one individual perished in the fire.
The Investigative Committee of Russia, which investigates major crimes, stated that it was investigating the cause of the fire. The head of the emergency services agency for the Moscow region stated that safety requirements were likely broken during the building’s renovations.
Prior to the firms’ withdrawal from Russia in the wake of the Ukraine conflict, Mega was home to a large number of Western retail chains, including one of the first IKEA stores in the greater Moscow area.
»Fire rages through a shopping mall in Moscow’s outskirts«