Fire burns down ENTIRE floor of high-rise residential building in Krasnodar, southern Russia, no casualties reported (VIDEO)

The fire ignited around 2:15 a.m local time at the attic floor of the high-rise, with the first fire crews arriving at the scene within six minutes after the incident was reported. 

Some 140 firefighters and 40 fire engines battled the blaze, that spread to the area of some 4,400 square meters by the time it was contained, nearly 4 hours later.

Footage from the scene showed the fire devouring the uppermost wooden floor of the apartment block, and plumes of thick black smoke billowing from the burning building.

The blaze damaged 88 apartments, reducing the attic floor to the smoldering debris, Oleg Volynkin, head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s Principal Directorate for the Krasnodar Region, told the media.

The 8th floor has burned down completely, along the perimeter of the building

Some 300 people, who woke up to the flames ripping through the top of the house in the middle of the night, have been evacuated. There have been no reports about injuries or casualties.

The evacuated residents were taken to a temporary shelter, located in a nearby school.

While the investigation into the cause of the blaze is in its early stages, Volynkin said that it appears that the fire was caused by negligence.

The official noted that preliminary data suggests that there could have been more than one sources of the fire.

Kransnodar, sometimes referred to as an unofficial capital of the South of Russia (along with Rostov-on-Don), is located some 160 km from the Black Sea and some 1,350 km south of Moscow.

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