Small fire extinguished at building of Russian defence ministry in Moscow - agencies

Reuters
Updated ·1 min read
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(Reuters) - A fire briefly broke out at a building belonging to Russia's defence ministry in the centre of Moscow on Wednesday evening, Russian state news agencies reported, citing emergency services.

Footage shared by state media outlets on social media showed a thin plume of dark smoke rising from the defence ministry's headquarters in Moscow on Znamenka street, near the Kremlin.

The small blaze was put out shortly after it started with no casualties, the TASS news agency reported.

"Around 19:30 (16:30 GMT), in one of the administrative buildings of the defence ministry in Moscow, duty workers detected smoke on the premises. The fire department and ministry of emergency situations came to the scene," Interfax cited the defence ministry as saying in a statement.

The fire covered an area of 60 square metres (646 square feet), TASS cited local emergency services as saying.

The defence ministry said it was currently establishing the cause of the fire.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Alison Williams and Jonathan Oatis)