Fire in Russia shopping mall prompts mass evacuation

St. Petersburg (Russia): Nearly 800 people have been evacuated after a massive fire broke out in the Lenta supermarket in St Petersburg on Saturday morning.

Quoting sources, Sputnik reported the fire erupted in the supermarket at 8.30 am local time (GMT +3) due to an electrical malfunction and quickly swept through the entire building and the roof, threatening the lives of many people, including the staff as well as the customers. Emergency services have also confirmed that the roof of the shopping mall had collapsed on an area of 3,800 sq. meters.

Meanwhile, no casualties have been reported till now. Another emergency services source told Sputnik that two helicopters, namely, Mi-8 and Ka-32 with spill over devices with a capacity of 5 tonne have been alerted at Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg to localise the fire.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]