A woman was killed in a fire after a drone crashed into a shopping mall in Russia’s republic of North Ossetia early Wednesday, local authorities said.
The blaze at the four-story Alania Mall in the regional capital of Vladikavkaz was sparked by falling debris from a drone hit by air defense systems, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.
Another drone was downed early Wednesday in the town of Malgobek in the neighboring republic of Ingushetia without causing damage or injuries, regional leader Makhmoud-Ali Kalimatov said.
Telegram news channels claimed that the North Ossetia fire erupted before the shopping center opened on Wednesday and killed a cleaner.
Images broadcast on television showed a spiral of smoke atop the rainbow-colored building. Russia’s Emergency Services Ministry said the blaze broke out on one of the upper floors.
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