Huge fire seen from plane window after engulfing St Petersburg warehouse

A huge fire tore through a large warehouse used by Russia’s largest online retailer south of St Petersburg on Saturday morning (13 January).

The blaze covered an area of 70,000 square meters, with 50,000 square meters of the Wildberries warehouse collapsing, according to Russia’s emergency situations ministry.

No casualties were reported.

A video posted to social media shows the thick smoke was visible from a passing aircraft, which also captures a view of the raging flames.

The ministry said firefighters had been able to prevent the blaze from spreading across the entire area of ​​the warehouse complex and to an electrical substation.

It added that, according to preliminary data, the cause of the fire was faulty electrical wiring.