Four people have sustained minor injuries after a large fire broke out at a pyrotechnics warehouse in central Moscow on Saturday. Multiple videos from the scene captured fireworks exploding while smoke billowed across the city.
Clips taken by eyewitnesses showed a large plume of gray smoke over the center of the sweltering Russian capital, which is in the grip of a summer heat wave.
The building concerned, which is reportedly a warehouse of a fireworks manufacturer, is located across the Moscow River from Gorky Park, close to the Luzhniki Stadium, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics and the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The location of the raging fire is right next to a pyrotechnics store literally named ‘Kaboom,' in Russian.
Footage shows a barrage of small explosions occurring both in the building and in the sky above it.
Three firefighters and one of the warehouse employees were hurt in the fire, Moscow Deputy Mayor Pyotr Biryukov revealed on Saturday evening.
The blaze, which spanned an area of some 500 square meters, required a major operation from the emergencies services. Three helicopters and a firefighting vessel were deployed to help ground teams quench the fire, with Kamov Ka-32s helicopters filmed scooping water from the Moscow River to pour it on the burning building.
An electrical short-circuit was behind the blaze, according to a source in the emegency services.
The blaze was contained four hours after it began.
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