Hundreds evacuated from fire at Moscow theater

[November 04, 2013]  MOSCOW (AP) -- Hundreds of people have been evacuated from a Moscow theater after a fire broke out 20 minutes before the start of a matinee performance.

The emergency services say no one was injured in the blaze at the School of Modern Drama in central Moscow.

No cause has yet been determined for the fire, which started between the second floor and the attic Sunday. The emergency services said in a statement that 350 people were evacuated. It took firefighters 2 1/2 hours to extinguish the blaze.

The theater occupies a building that in the late 19th and early 20th centuries housed the Hermitage restaurant, which was frequented by Russia's cultural and intellectual elite.

[Associated Press]

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