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Fire at construction site at Moscow business centre localized

About 2,000 people were evacuated

© ITAR-TASS/Valery Matytsyn

MOSCOW, February 18. /ITAR-TASS/. The fire at a construction site of the Moscow International Business Centre, also referred to as Moscow City, has been localized, sources from the emergencies ministry’s Moscow department have said.

They dismissed earlier reports about a fire at the Afimall shopping and entertainment centre located in Moscow City, saying the fire had broken out at a construction site near the shopping mall, engulfing an area of about 40 square meters.

A telephone call about a fire at Moscow City came at 11:34 Moscow time on Tuesday and first fire brigades arrived three minutes later. About 2,000 people were evacuated, the sources said.

According to eyewitnesses, white smoke could be seen in all premises of Afimall. There were a lot of firefighters, a female stuffer from the shopping mall said, adding that there had been no panic. “Everybody has left the shopping centre, calmly without panic,” she said, adding that fire alarm had gone off in the building.

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