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MOSCOW: Twelve people died on Tuesday when a fire tore through a two-story Moscow market warehouse that was being used by migrant workers from a former Soviet republic as a temporary residence, the Moscow emergencies ministry said.
“Twelve people died. They were migrant workers. We are trying to confirm which (ex-Soviet) republic they came from,” a ministry spokesman told AFP.
Unconfirmed news reports said the migrants came from the impoverished Central Asian nation of Tajikistan. Numerous Moscow markets employ cheap labourers from the region without giving them proper housing conditions.
The blaze erupted early Tuesday at a market on the southern outskirts of the city called Kachalovsky. Officials said it took two hours to put out.
