A large fire broke out on Tuesday at a production facility in the Ural Mountains city of Yekaterinburg, local media reported, with photos and videos on social media showing a large column of black smoke billowing into the sky.According to local media reports, the blaze erupted late Tuesday afternoon at NPO Avtomatiki, a subsidiary of the Roscosmos space agency.

It was not immediately clear what caused the fire.NPO Avtomatiki specializes in developing and manufacturing control systems and radio-electronic equipment for rocket and space technology, as well as various industrial sectors, according to the company’s website.Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry said fire crews were at the scene battling the blaze.“In the Sverdlovsk region, firefighters...

are working to extinguish the roof of a workshop,” the ministry said in a statement, adding that an estimated 800 square meters (8,611 square feet) “of a building with chemical products was engulfed in flames.”The local E1.ru news outlet, citing an anonymous source, reported that the fire broke out in a part of the production facility where welding work was being carried out.

Chemicals were also said to have been stored in that part of the building.A video shared by the outlet showed a large crowd of onlookers being pushed away from the burning facility due to concerns that the smoke was hazardous.Emergency officials said there were no immediate reports of any injuries or deaths as a result of the fire.A Message from The Moscow Times:Dear readers,We are facing unprecedented challenges.

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