Fire at Bashkortostan shopping centre leaves one dead, four injured

One person was killed, and four others were injured in a fire at the Solnechny shopping and service centre in Sterlitamak, in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, emergency services said on Tuesday, September 22.

The fire broke out at the four-story brick building of the shopping and service complex at 70 Kommunisticheskaya Street, according to the press service of the Main Directorate of the Russian Emergencies Ministry for Bashkortostan.

“Preliminarily, there is a fire at the Solnechny shopping and service centre at 70 Kommunisticheskaya Street. Fire crews are at the scene, and all necessary measures are being taken,” the Emergencies Ministry said.

Seventeen people, including one child, were evacuated from the building. Information about those injured was initially being clarified before emergency services later confirmed that one person had died and four others had been injured.

A total of 47 personnel and 16 pieces of equipment have been deployed to tackle the blaze, the Emergencies Ministry said.

Police officers are also working at the scene, the Bashkortostan Interior Ministry said. Traffic police and patrol officers are taking measures to protect members of the public and maintain public order, while also assisting other emergency services in dealing with the fire.

“An investigative and operational team from the Sterlitamak Department of the Russian Interior Ministry and a mobile forensic laboratory have arrived at the scene,” the Interior Ministry said.

By Tamilla Hasanova