Fire at Moscow market kills 17 migrant workers

At least 17 migrant workers, mostly from Tajikistan, were killed when a pre-dawn blaze swept through a market warehouse on Moscow's outskirts on Tuesday, Russia's emergencies ministry said.

"We believe they were migrant workers who lived at the market," a ministry spokesperson said.

The fire began at around 4:50am (local time) in a warehouse at the Kachalovsky market, Russian news agency Ria Novosti reported.

The metal-sided two-storey building was used as a storage warehouse at a construction materials market, said Gorbunov, deputy chief of the Emergency Situations department in Moscow's southwestern district. The victims had been living in makeshift quarters in the rear of the building, he said.

"Why people were living there and what relationship they had with the market will be established by the investigation," Gorbunov added.

Unconfirmed media reports said the victims lived in cramped conditions, sleeping on stacked bunk beds, and that there was no direct exit to the street from their quarters.

Police also say they have opened a criminal investigation into the blaze, but have not yet brought charges against market owners.

"The bodies are being identified, but this is difficult as they are all badly burnt," a Moscow migration service spokesperson said.

Rescue workers are still operating at the scene of the blaze.

The incident comes a day after thirty-one people were killed in a plane crash in Siberia.