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One confirmed injured in shopping mall fire outside Moscow

Construction materials stored at an open space caught fire at the Stroitrakt shopping mall on Monday morning and the flames spread to the first floor

© Maxim Grigoryev/TASS

MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. One person was injured in a shopping mall fire covering a 10,000-square meter area in Balashikha, a suburb east of Moscow, the Russian Emergencies Ministry confirmed on Monday.

"One was injured in the fire," the ministry reported. Earlier, the emergency services told TASS that a security guard had suffered injuries.

Construction materials stored at an open space caught fire at the Stroitrakt shopping mall on Monday morning and the flames spread to the first floor. The area of the fire has so far stretched out from 200 square meters originally to 10,000 square meters, and there is a risk that the blaze could engulf the entire building.

Currently, 35 fire engines and 110 firefighters are working at the scene. A Mi-8 helicopter belonging to the Russian Emergencies Ministry is also taking part in the operation to put out the fire.

Built in 2019, the shopping mall was not subject to fire safety inspections and is designated as a substantial risk facility, yet a temporary ban on inspections was imposed in 2020. The fire was caused by a short circuit due to rainy weather. Prosecutors have launched a probe, while the Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case into the incident.

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