Fatal inferno sweeps through Moscow shopping mall: One person dead

Fatal inferno sweeps through Moscow shopping mall: One person dead as building EXPLODES and collapses

• The massive blaze ripped through the Mega shopping centre near Moscow
• The fire led to the collapse of part of the shopping mall, which complicated firefighters’ efforts to douse the flames
• One person, identified by local media as Sergey Smurov, was killed in the blaze

A fatal inferno swept through one of the largest shopping malls near Moscow in the early hours of this morning, leaving one person dead.

The massive blaze, which spread to the size of a football pitch, ripped through the Mega shopping centre in Khimki near the Russian capital. 

The fire led to the collapse of part of the shopping mall, which complicated firefighters’ efforts to douse the flames.

One person, identified by local media as Sergey Smurov, was killed in the blaze after he was trapped inside an annex within the mall.

The massive blaze, which spread to the size of a football pitch, ripped through the Mega shopping centre in Khimki near the Russian capital

A fatal inferno swept through the Mega shopping centre near Moscow in the early hours of this morning, leaving one person dead

Russia firefighters battle a massive blaze the size of a football pitch which broke out overnight at the Mega Khimki shopping and entertainment centre on Friday

The destroyed shopping mall, ravaged by a flaming inferno, is seen this morning as firefighters continue to battle the blaze

Scores of emergency vehicles arrived at the scene of the fire on Friday and worked to put out the fire, which spread to the size of a football pitch

Footage from the scene showed flames lighting up the sky and dark smoke billowing into the air, as scores of people fled the burning building into a parking lot. 

More than 70 firefighters and 20 fire trucks were working to put out the fire, which spread over 7,000 square metres (75,300 square feet), 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.

Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said it was looking into the cause of the fire. 

Footage from the scene showed flames lighting up the sky and dark smoke billowing into the air, as scores of people fled the burning building into a parking lot

Footage from the scene showed flames lighting up the sky and dark smoke billowing into the air

Russia firefighters battle the blaze at the Mega shopping mall on Friday morning 

Daylight reveals the devastation caused by the fire at the shopping mall, as firefighters continue to try and douse the flames with water on Friday

The head of the Moscow region’s emergency services agency said it appeared the blaze was the result of safety regulations being violated during repair work on the building.

Sources told local media that the fire had started in the home improvement OBI outlet, a German-based chain which closed soon after the war broke out in Ukraine. 

A local man said: ‘Everything started burning from the roof, I do not know exactly where the ignition came from. The fire developed very quickly.

The fire led to the collapse of part of the shopping mall, which complicated firefighters’ efforts to douse the flames

The massive blaze, which spread to the size of a football pitch, ripped through the Mega shopping centre in Khimki near the Russian capital. The blaze could be seen miles away from the scene

Smoke rises into the air at the scene of a blaze which ripped through a shopping mall in the early hours of this morning, as firefighters battled to stop the flames

‘Literally five minutes later, the entire roof was already caught in flames.

‘And after ten minutes everything developed rapidly, the lower floor was already ablaze.’

Mega had been home to a large number of Western retail chains before the companies’ departure from Russia in the wake of the Ukraine conflict, including one of the first IKEA stores in the Moscow area.

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