Four killed, nine injured in Bashkortostan shopping centre fire PHOTO / VIDEO / UPDATED

Four people were killed and nine others were injured in a fire at the Solnechny shopping and service complex in Sterlitamak, in Russia’s Republic of Bashkortostan, the Emergencies Ministry said.

Seventeen people, including one child, were evacuated from the four-story building. According to eyewitness accounts cited by local media, some visitors were forced to escape by jumping from windows, while several floors of the complex were gutted by fire. Firefighting operations continued as the blaze was brought under control.

The preliminary cause of the fire was a short circuit, according to reports. A new clothing department on the second floor was believed to have caught fire. The fire affected about 2,100 square meters of the building, according to the Emergencies Ministry.

Earlier, the Emergencies Ministry said four people had been injured. One woman was in intensive care, while a 27-year-old woman who jumped from the third floor, a teenager and another female visitor were reported to be in moderate condition. Local reports said several injured people were taken to hospital.

Three of the four people killed were sisters, identified as 34-year-old Viktoria, 29-year-old Elizaveta and 45-year-old Elena, according to the 112 Telegram channel and reports citing emergency services. Two of the sisters worked at a workshop located inside the shopping complex, while the third had come to visit them that day.

Preliminary information indicated that the sisters had been at the shopping centre to choose a birthday present for their mother.

The head of the Sterlitamak administration said the victims’ relatives would receive all necessary assistance.

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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