A huge fire engulfs a warehouse in Russia outside the city of St Petersburg
Russian authorities say that a huge fire tore through a large warehouse used by Russia's largest online retailer south of St. Petersburg
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A huge fire tore through a large warehouse used by Russia’s largest online retailer south of St. Petersburg on Saturday morning.
The blaze covered an area of 70,000 square meters (more than 750,000 square feet), with 50,000 square meters (around 540,000 square feet) of the Wildberries warehouse collapsing, according to Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry. No casualties were reported.
Videos posted to social media appeared to show employees running down fire escapes and fleeing the scene. A video shot from a passenger jet flying nearby showed flames totally engulfing the warehouse, sending huge plumes of smoke into the sky. The Associated Press couldn't immediately verify the authenticity of the videos.
Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said that firefighters had been able to prevent the fire from spreading across the entire area of the warehouse complex and to an electrical substation. It said that, according to preliminary data, the cause of the fire was faulty electrical wiring.