Hundreds of firefighters battled a huge blaze in Moscow after a business center went up in flames Friday morning.
The fire that led to the deployment of at least three helicopters has been put out, according to the latest information from the Russian emergency services.
The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the incident took place at the Grand Setun Plaza Business Center in western Moscow.
@mchs_official/Zenger
A first piece of footage shows a fire engine with its ladder extended as firefighters enter the burning building while massive flames and smoke can be seen emanating from it.
Other images show a firefighter at the top of a ladder spraying water at the building with a hose. A third piece of footage, shot a little later, shows black smoke billowing from the building and additional fire engines deployed to the scene.
The building was evacuated, with the business center employees being taken to safety, but there were fears earlier that people might have been trapped on the upper floors.
@mchs_official/Zenger
At first, 86 emergency workers were deployed to the scene along with 16 emergency vehicles, according to the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The fire, which engulfed the first to fourth floors of the building, quickly spread, with it eventually covering a reported 3,280 square feet. Two hundred firefighters were eventually deployed to the scene.
The Russian emergency services said earlier Friday: “In Moscow, the fire is being eliminated in ZAO, st. Gorbunov. Upon the arrival of the first units, it was established that a fire was taking place in the administrative building. According to preliminary information, there were no casualties, information on the area is being specified. 86 people and 16 pieces of equipment are working at the scene of the fire.”
The emergency services then said a little later: “According to preliminary information, the fire area is 1000 sq.m. 180 people and 41 pieces of equipment are working at the site.”
@mchs_official/Zenger
In an update issued a little later, at around 10:30 a.m. local time, the emergency services added: “According to preliminary information, more than 120 people were rescued from the burning building, the search for people continues.”
Ka-32 helicopters were reportedly deployed to the scene of the fire as well, with emergency officials saying: “Aviation was involved at the scene of the fire. There are 3 helicopters, 2 of them – EMERCOM of the Russian Federation.”
At 11:15 a.m. local time, the emergency services said in an update on the situation: “As of 11.00 there is a fire on the 8th floor.
“The building of the Grand Setun Plaza Business Center operates on an area of 1,100 square meters, 2 people were injured, 120 were evacuated, 11 were rescued with the help of special devices. An inspection is underway, there may be blocked people in the building.
“In total, more than 340 people are involved in extinguishing the fire and about 100 units. Three helicopters are involved.”
The emergency services then issued a final update saying that at 12:32 p.m. local time, the fire had been “completely eliminated.”
It is currently unclear how many people have been injured. It was also unclear at the time of writing what caused the fire.
This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.
