Russian church ravaged by fire
The blaze erupted in the early evening and burned through scaffolding outside the soaring blue central dome of Trinity Cathedral, a duty officer at the Russian Emergency Situations ministry said. The cause was not immediately known.
The central dome collapsed and one of four smaller cupolas surrounding it — painted a striking light blue and in some cases spangled with gold stars — was also destroyed by the fire, St Petersburg emergency department spokeswoman Lyudmila Rubasova said. There were no reports of injuries, she said.
Firefighters battled to save the other three domes as emergency workers and church employees removed icons and other religious articles from the Russian Orthodox cathedral. A helicopter dumped water on the historic structure.
About four hours after the blaze broke out, Ms Rubasova said one of the three remaining domes had been damaged but that the fire was contained. After the main dome collapsed, flames leaped up from the rim where it had stood.
Before the fire, the domes towered from a solid base marked by classical columns.
The cathedral was built in 1835 and is considered an architectural monument. State-run Rossiya television said the main dome was the second-largest wooden cupola in Europe, and Channel One said that writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky was married there.
