MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. An adult and two children died in fire in an apartment house on the outskirts of Moscow, when 14 more people were injured, the Russian Emergencies Ministry told TASS on Saturday.

"Seventeen people were affected. Of those, three died - an adult and two children," the press service said.

A source with the emergency services added that injuries and deaths were caused by smoke inhalation.

"According to immediate reports, the victims’ injuries and deaths were caused by smoke inhalation of toxic gasses produced by the fire," he added.

According to Spokesperson for the Moscow branch of the Russian Investigative Committee Yulia Ivanova, a criminal investigation has been launched.

A fire started in a high-rise residential building in New Moscow (new districts on the city’s outskirts) on Saturday afternoon. A second-story apartment caught fire that advanced up the balconies from the third to ninth floors. The fire has been extinguished.