One killed in Moscow shopping mall fire

MOSCOW -- At least one person was killed and two others injured in a fire that broke out in a shopping mall in the eastern part of Russia's capital, the country's Investigative Committee said Wednesday.

Investigators are working on the scene to question eyewitnesses, the committee said on its Telegram messenger account.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry said in a statement that the fire affecting an area of 80 square meters in the four-storey Perseus for Children mall was put out in about an hour after it broke out.

The mall, the largest of the Perseus for Children chain, was opened in 2009. It has an area of 6,000 square meters with various shops, a games room, a playground and a beauty salon for children, according to the mall's website.

The cause of the fire is not yet known.

The fire happened amid a nationwide safety check at shopping malls in Russia after an inferno in a similar mall in the Siberian city of Kemerovo killed 64 people last month, including many children.