A huge fire has devastated a large warehouse used by Russia’s largest online retailer south of St Petersburg.
The blaze covered an area of more than 750,000sq ft, with around 540,000sq ft of the Wildberries warehouse collapsing, according to Russian officials.
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.
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.
Russian officials, cited by state news agency TASS, said Wildberries had obtained permission to construct the warehouse, but not to operate it.
TASS also reported that the fire alarms were turned off at the time of the blaze, as there had been numerous false alarms.
Wildberries, in turn, said that it was fully compliant with local regulations and safety requirements.
