According to Serbian media, a fire broke out in a large Chinese shopping center in Belgrade on Thursday night.
On Friday morning, after a seven-hour battle, firefighters with 127 firefighters and more than 50 vehicles managed to localize the crash. The fire burned most of the shopping center in New Belgrade.
Awful news from #Belgrade overnight – a large fire at #Blok70, better known as the #Chinese Shopping Centre, has caused considerable damage. Not clear yet what if anything can be salvaged. No injuries apparently but many livlihoods affected. #Serbia. https://t.co/noo0GUPvCf
— Ian Bancroft (@bancroftian) August 13, 2021
The incident was reported last night at 20.05 local time, and the first fire crews arrived six minutes later, adds Tanjug. However, the fire broke out at 9.20 pm local time, when the roof of the facility caught fire, and periodically explosions were heard from gas cylinders located at commercial facilities.
Kineski tržni centar, blok 70 ?
Šteta je verujemo ogromna, mnogo je ovde porodica radilo, od toga su živeli a sada je sve izgorelo. ?
Da li se priprema teren za novu desetospratnicu? pic.twitter.com/XIfGh7r9hp
— Savski nasip (@savski_nasip) August 12, 2021
The fire was also caused by the presence of many textiles and other flammable materials.
The commander of the Belgrade Fire Service, Milos Maistorovic, said that this was one of the largest operations conducted by the service.
Vatrogasci spasioci ne uspevaju da zauzdaju vatrenu stihiji u bloku 70!
Vatra guta sve pred sobom i cuju se sporadicne eksplozije. pic.twitter.com/1B8bMPue7o— Marko M. Dragoslavic (@DragoslavicM) August 12, 2021
According to the Belgrade ambulance, a firefighter was injured in the fire. Serbian Interior Minister Oleksandr Vulin also visited the scene.