Kyiv firefighters were called to a fire about 5 p.m. on June 20 that broke out in the upper floors of a building at 40/1 Kreshchatyk Street, with dense black smoke billowing over the center of Ukraine’s capital.
The three-story building – the former Central Gastronom food store – which is covered by a banner with the colors of the Ukrainian national flag, has been undergoing renovation for several years. No information was immediately available on injuries or whether anyone was on the floors that were burning. The ground floor hosts businesses that appeared to be unaffected. No cause of the fire was announced.
Firefighters remained on the scene as of 6 p.m., but the fire was mostly brought under control by 8 p.m. About 10 fire trucks were used in extinguishing the blaze, and traffic was closed on nearby Bohdana Khmelnytskoho Street, as well as on the section of Khreshchatyk Street from Bessarabska Square to the intersection with Prorizna Street.
According to a report by the UNIAN news agency, eyewitnesses first saw flames coming from the roof of the building, and the fire then spread to the second floor of the building, which has wooden floors.
Flames could be seen through the banner in the second-floor windows of the building. Smoke was still coming from the building as of 6:20 p.m., Kyiv time (GMT+3).
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