Fire engulfs another Moscow mall, 2nd such fire in 4 days

MOSCOW (AP) — A massive fire has gutted a shopping mall on Moscow’s eastern outskirts, the second such blaze in four days. Monday’s blaze at the mall in Balashikha first erupted at a storage area and later spread to part of the building. Firefighters managed to keep it in an area of about 9,000 square meters (about 97,000 square feet). The mall specializes in construction items and decorative materials. Officials said the fire was caused by a short circuit that came amid heavy rain in Moscow. The blaze follows another fire on Friday that destroyed the huge OBI construction materials store, part of the MEGA shopping mall in Khimki, on the Russian capital’s northwestern outskirts.