Fire engulfed one of the largest shopping malls near Moscow

FIRE engulfed one of the largest shopping malls near Moscow early on Friday (December 9), emergency services said, leading to the collapse of part of the structure, which complicated firefighters' efforts to douse the flames.

The fire spread over an area of about 17 000 sq m (182,000 sq ft) in the Mega shopping center in Khimki near the Russian capital, authorities said. One person died in the fire, authorities say.

Mega had been home to a large number of Western retail chains before the companies' departure from Russia in the wake of the Ukraine conflict, including one of the first IKEA stores in the Moscow area.