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Death toll in Moscow residential building fire reaches six

Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which had engulfed more than 1.5 square meters on the fifth and sixth floors

© Mikhail Tereshchenko/TASS

MOSCOW, February 4. /TASS/. The death toll from a fire in an apartment building in downtown Moscow has risen to six, Spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee’s Main Moscow Department Yulia Ivanova told TASS, adding that there was a child among the victims.

"Two more bodies have been recovered, including an underage child," she said.

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According to preliminary reports, the fire killed a man, three women and a boy. There is no information yet about the sixth victim.

The fire erupted at about 01:40 Moscow time (22:40 GMT on Sunday). A total of 42 people, including eight children, were evacuated from the seven-storey building. At about 05:00 (02:00 GMT), firefighters extinguished the blaze, which had engulfed more than 1.5 square meters on the fifth and sixth floors.

The Russian Investigative Committee’s Main Moscow Department has opened an investigation under Article 109.3 of the Russian Criminal Code (negligent homicide of two or more persons).

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