Officials say 16 victims of blaze at industrial unit in Russian capital thought to belong to printing company were from Kyrgyzstan

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

At least 16 migrant workers from Kyrgyzstan have died in a fire at a warehouse in Moscow, Russian authorities have said.

Firefighters arrived at 8am (5am BST) on Saturday at the scene, where a blaze had engulfed 200 sq metres of a warehouse in an industrial zone to the north of the Russian capital.

The fire on the fourth floor of the building, which is thought to belong to a printing company, was extinguished at about 10am, officials said.

Tass news agency quoted the Russian emergency ministry as saying: “When the fire was being put out, a room that had been cut off by the flames was discovered. Firefighters tore down the wall and found 16 dead.”

The head of the Moscow branch of the emergency ministry, Ilya Denisov, said the victims were from the former Soviet republic.

An AFP journalist at the scene saw more than 30 migrant workers gathered outside the warehouse, some of whom wept as they waited for news about those who had been in the building when the fire broke out.

Denisov said the blaze was believed to have been caused by a broken lamp in a room containing large quantities of flammable liquid and paper products.

“The fire spread from the first floor through the elevator shaft to the room in which the people were killed,” Denisov told Interfax news agency.

The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, said the injured had been taken to a local hospital. City authorities have launched an investigation.

“I am certain that those guilty will be found and punished,” Sobyanin tweeted.

In a statement, the Moscow branch of the Russian investigative committee said it was looking into the circumstances surrounding the incident.