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Moscow’s historic Stalin skyscraper catches fire

The fire was extinguished an hour after firefighting teams arrived at the site of the incident

© Vladimir Smirnov/TASS

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MOSCOW, August 18. /TASS/. One of Stalin’s famous skyscrapers, the apartment building on the Kotelnicheskaya embankment in downtown Moscow, has caught fire, the local emergencies department told TASS on Thursday.

The fire was extinguished an hour after firefighting teams arrived at the site of the incident.

"The fire has been put out, no one was injured," the department spokesman stated, adding that five workers were evacuated.

A law enforcement source said an electric cable caught fire on the 30th floor of the building’s main tower, with eyewitnesses reporting black smoke emanating from the area.

The 176-meter tall Kotelnicheskaya embankment skyscraper was built in 1938-1952. Apartments are located on the first 26 floors of the 32-storey building.

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