“The first firefighters arrived four minutes after the call. When they got there, only 500 square meters were burning. The fire then intensified and we had to commit 45 fire-fighting teams,” Colonel Igor Kulikov, from Emergencies Ministries, said.

While trying to evacuate people from the burning building, two firefighters were killed by a ceiling that fell in on them.

Considerable art works have been saved, though others were severely damaged or even destroyed by either fire or water.

There has also been speculation that the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts had some of its artifacts being restored in the building, though the museum’s representatives have denied this.

Now the Center’s employees are registering all art works that were saved from the fire. Once the paintings are accounted for they are moved to nearby museums.

The Ministry of Culture said that, so far, they could not estimate the possible damage.

According to the Russia’s Prosecutor’s Office, the fire was caused by negligence: the building was being repaired and the builders, trying to fix the roof, used blow torches, which was unacceptable due to the extreme heat in the capital.

The All-Russian art restoration centre was founded in 1918 by an artist and art historian Igor Grabar, who was in charge until 1930. The center unites fine art critics and restoration specialists who study Russian art and perform expert evaluation of artifacts.