Media Reports: Russians Trying To Escape From Burning Wildberries Warehouse Found Gates Deliberately Closed

The evacuation during the fire in St. Petersburg took place in a strong crush.

During the evacuation from the burning Wildberries warehouse in St. Petersburg, Russia, the gates through which people could escape were deliberately closed.

An eyewitness and a marketplace employee told Mash about this. According to him, the fire could have occurred because of the poor wiring.

The warehouse smelled of burnt wiring as early as 4 am, then the fire alarm went off, but it was simply turned off — and everyone continued to work, the employee explained. Before this, the man claims, a new mezzanine was built in the warehouse, where new wiring was laid — it, in his opinion, could have ignited because it was made poorly.

According to him, the evacuation took place in a strong crush. He also said that in one of the warehouse premises the gate, through which people could run out, was closed so that the fire did not spread to the rest of the premises.

The workers were taken out through a small door, he says. The eyewitness reports that he saw the casualties with his own eyes. There were at least 1,200 people in the warehouse, he says.