Fire rips through Russian defence ministry building in Moscow

Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at the Russian Defence Ministry's building in central Moscow, Russia, April 3, 2016. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A fire ripped through a Russian Defence Ministry building in central Moscow on Sunday, sending plumes of smoke over the Russian capital as fire fighters battled to extinguish the blaze.

Around 50 people were reported to have been evacuated from the administrative building, which dates from the end of the eighteenth century. Nobody was reported to have been hurt.