Six dead, including two children, in Moscow's hotel fire

Firefighters put out a fire in the building which houses the MKM hotel in Moscow, Russia February 21, 2023, in this still image taken from video. Russian Emergencies Ministry/Handout via REUTERS

(Reuters) - Six people have died, including two children, after a fire broke out in a multi-storey building in Moscow's centre, Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said late on Tuesday.

Nine people were injured in the fire and 200 were evacuated from the building, which houses a hotel, the ministry said on the Telegram messaging platform.

The fire was extinguished just before midnight (2100 GMT) and room-by-room inspection was carried out.

Russia's Investigative Committee said on Telegram they had opened a criminal case into the cause of the fire, which broke out on the fifth floor of the building.

The 41-year-old building in Moscow's Tagansky district houses the MKM hotel on the lower floors as well as apartments converted from a previous hostel on the upper floors, Russian agencies reported.

Russia's TASS agency reported, citing an unnamed emergency services official, that arson was the preliminary cause.

(Writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Josie Kao)