ST. PETERSBURG, August 22. /TASS/. A fire broke out onboard the Pyotr Tchaikovsky riverboat in the Russian city of St. Petersburg on Thursday morning, killing one, a spokesperson for the St. Petersburg City branch of the Russian Emergencies Ministry told TASS.

"The fire killed a man inside the boat’s cabin," he said.

"A total of 240 passengers and 80 personnel had to be evacuated, they were taken to a riverbank restaurant," the spokesperson added.

The fire on board a riverboat docked at the Oktyabrskaya river promenade broke out at about 05:30 and was extinguished at 06:10.

The city’s emergencies agency told TASS that the fire had erupted in the boat engineer’s cabin, scorching 13 square meters.