A second shopping mall in Moscow has gone up in flames, raising suspicions about ‘sabotage’ attacks in Russia.
Video showed thick black smoke rising dozens of metres above the Stroypark Mall in the suburb of Balashikha.
One man was reported injured in this morning’s incident, which is currently being tackled by firefighters.
A statement from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation said the first fire and rescue unit at the scene observed the ‘burning of garbage in an open area covering an area of 200 square meters’.
It is yet unconfirmed if this is what caused the fire, but speculations about attacks have already emerged on social media.
A message on a Telegram channel read: ‘Fires at Russian shopping centres seem to be breaking out really often these days. Are these sabotage…or?’
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It follows a huge blaze on Friday at the Mega retail complex at Khimki in northern Moscow, home of the original Russian IKEA outlet.
But there has been no suggestion these fires are the result of aerial attacks.
Others speculated that with the Russian economy under stress from international sanctions, this could be sabotage from competitors inside Moscow.
Ukrainian racing driver, Igor Sushko, shared several videos of the incident in the capital.
He wrote: ‘Locals are commenting that not a day goes by now without something burning down.’
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