13 dead in cafe fire in Russian city of Kostroma

Thirteen people have been killed in a fire pvernight at a cafe in the Russian city of Kostroma, local authorities said Saturday. 

“According to preliminary information, 13 people fell victim to the fire,” local governor Sergei Sitnikov said on Telegram.

Russian news agencies reported that 250 people were evacuated from the building when it caught fire at night in the city around 300 kilometres (180 miles) northeast of Moscow.

Sitnikov said that the blaze at the cafe, called “Poligon”, was put out at around 07:30 am (0430 GMT).

At least five other people were injured, he said, but they did not need to be hospitalised.

Local emergency services said they received reports of the fire at around 02:00 am, and that the blaze had spread out over 3,500 square meters.