One person died in a fire that broke out this morning in the large Mega Khimki shopping mall, on the north-western outskirts of Moscow,
not far from Sheremetyevo airport,
the
Emergencies Ministry department announced, as reported by Tass.
"Unfortunately, one person was killed (in the fire). Work is underway to put out the fire," said department head Sergey Poletykin.
The entire structure was engulfed in flames which spread over an area of 18,000 square metres.
Russian intelligence, quoted by Interfax, speaks of the suspicion of
"a deliberate act, a criminal fire", citing unidentified sources, on the origin of the fire, but the trace of an accident,
the result of violation of the rules , is not excluded
safety.
Indeed, according to Tass, "the cause of the fire was a violation of the rules for carrying out welding work in the attached OBI hypermarket, which was under reconstruction".
At first it was reported that
the Russian emergency services suspect that the fire may have been caused by a "criminal" act.
But a service member himself, quoted by Tass, said
a short circuit in an Obi do-it-yourself department store could have caused the disaster.
"The fire in the Obi store was started by a short circuit. An explosion caused the flames to spread," the source said.
The exact cause of the fire will be established by an investigation, the Russian news agency said.
