A skyscraper in Chechen capital of Grozny is on fire, according to multiple reports.
Russia Today reports the 35-story-high building in the Grozny City complex is the tallest in Chechnya, and the tallest in South Caucasus region. Another 65-story building in the same complex will be the tallest Russian building outside of Moscow when it is completed.
The building houses a five-star hotel and apartments All people inside the building have been evacuated and Ria Novosti reports that none of the evacuees needed medical treatment.
Ria Novosti reports that more than 100 firefighters and 16 fire engines are battling the fire. One source told the Russian news agency all floors of the skyscraper, except the ground floor, are on fire.
Images posted to Twitter appear to show almost half the building engulfed in the fire:
@varlamovtwitter.com/zrmv/status/31…
— @zrmv (@zrmv) April 3, 2013
This video shows a large amount of smoke coming from the building:
Another video shows from how far away the smoke can be seen:
The Grozny City complex was part of an ambitious attempt to rebuild Grozny — devasted by wars and terrorism in the past two decades — into a modern city. Here's how the New York Timesdescribed the development in 2011:
The buildings look out from as high as 45 stories over an entirely new city, with parks and broad avenues, fountains and flower beds, and hardly a scratch to remind it of more than a decade of separatist warfare.
According Itar-Tass news agency, French actor Gerard Depardieu owns an apartment in the building, a gift from Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
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