People look at smoke and flame rising from the Nevskaya Manufaktura textile factory founded by English merchant J. Thornton in 1841, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, April 12, 2021. The emergencies ministry said the fire had broken out over several floors of the red-brick Nevskaya Manufaktura building on the Oktyabrskaya Embankment of the Neva River. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
The Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) - A major fire engulfed a business center in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, on Monday, killing a firefighter and injuring two others.
The blaze spread across all four of the building's floors and was raging in an area of 10,000 square meters (more than 100,000 square feet), emergency officials said. Around 300 people were involved in battling the fire, authorities said.
One firefighter died and two others were hospitalized with injuries, according to the Russian Emergency Ministry. Forty people have been evacuated from the building, the Interfax news agency reported.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the fire, and an investigation was launched. The Interfax news agency reported that the building where the business center was located was erected in the 19th century, and its decrepit state made it harder for the firefighters to tackle the blaze.
People look at smoke and flame rising from the Nevskaya Manufaktura textile factory founded by English merchant J. Thornton in 1841, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, April 12, 2021. The emergencies ministry said the fire had broken out over several floors of the red-brick Nevskaya Manufaktura building on the Oktyabrskaya Embankment of the Neva River. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
The Associated Press
Smoke and flame rise from the Nevskaya Manufaktura textile factory, founded by English merchant J. Thornton in 1841, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, April 12, 2021. The emergencies ministry said the fire had broken out over several floors of the red-brick Nevskaya Manufaktura building on the Oktyabrskaya Embankment of the Neva River. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
The Associated Press
a Russian Emergency Situations Ministry helicopter dumps water on a large-scale fire at the Nevskaya Manufaktura textile factory founded by English merchant J. Thornton in 1841, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, April 12, 2021. The emergencies ministry said the fire had broken out over several floors of the red-brick Nevskaya Manufaktura building on the Oktyabrskaya Embankment of the Neva River. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
The Associated Press
Smoke and flame rise from the Nevskaya Manufaktura textile factory, founded by English merchant J. Thornton in 1841, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Monday, April 12, 2021. The emergencies ministry said the fire had broken out over several floors of the red-brick Nevskaya Manufaktura building on the Oktyabrskaya Embankment of the Neva River. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
The Associated Press