We went inside the Chinese mall that burned down: Ash, soot... disbelief in people's eyes

Soot, ash, blackness... Smoke... This is what the interior of the Chinese shopping center in Block 70, New Belgrade, looks like this morning, where a fire broke out last night.

One firefighter was slightly injured during the fire. The Chinese are going inside, looking around, trying to save what can be saved.

There is disbelief in their eyes, and when you ask them something, they just wave their hand away: "I don't understand... I don't understand," they reject us politely, despite the fact that they lost almost their entire livelihood last night.

They only say they haven't slept all night. Covered in soot, they go between the firefighters, clean up their stores, pull out goods, throw away what burned down.

When we entered the interior of the shopping center, we saw that there were still some flames. The silhouette of a firefighter could be seen in the distance still extinguishing the fire with a hose. Everything is full of water, and hot drops are pouring from the ceiling. Smoke billows from everywhere, as many stores are still smoldering.

The workers themselves are using hoses to finish putting out fires and enter the stores.

This, of course, is happening in the stores right next to the entrance, about ten meters inside the hallway. You can't go any further, the roof has collapsed, you can't breathe from the smoke. The Chinese are trying to use fire extinguishers in vain - some have lost everything.

They don't pay attention to us, they just pass by, hand things to each other in an organized way, don't even wipe the soot off their faces. Their hands are black, sweat is dripping from their foreheads, and water from the upper floors is pouring down their backs.

Will another roof fall, will some bottle burst? They don't even think about that - these working people are just looking to save what little property they have left.

And what could have been left - some items are literally melted, all full of smoke. Maybe some clothes that were wrapped in plastic will have remained on some counter.

Those who have nothing to save make videos, send them their compatriots, explain what kind of catastrophe befell them.

"Poor them, I'm so sorry for them. They invested everything in it. We heard detonations immediately yesterday when the fire broke out, that was the pyrotechnics, I guess, that they are selling. Everyone got scared and ran away, and the tenants were scared all night," a resident from the area tells us.

The firefighters are tired and still on their feet, after fighting the fire for 7 hours.

Inside, occasional detonations from exploding gas bottles are heard. The smoke is still billowing, and it has covered New Belgrade.

It is busy in front of the shopping center. The vendors came to pick up and save what they could of their goods. Tired firefighters are on duty by the trucks, smoke is spreading.

As our reporter said this morning, the fire seems much more dramatic from a distance than at the site, because of a huge cloud that stretches for kilometers over Zemun and New Belgrade.

A cloud of smoke is literally billowing from the mall, and spreading above the blocks in New Belgrade.

According to media reports, gas bottles are exploding on the lower floors, which is a problem for firefighters, so to completely put out the fire will take time. A gas bottle is mentioned as a possible cause of the fire, because, allegedly, an employee in one of the restaurants forgot to turn off a grill.

Goods are all around the shopping center, the Chinese are taking things out trying to save them, with the assistance from firefighters.

RTS reports that the commander of the Belgrade Fire Brigade, Milos Majstorovic, said that this is one of the biggest operations that the brigade has ever carried out.

Completing the job could take another two or three days.

They also report that small detonations are heard sporadically.

Firefighters and ambulance crews are on the ground all the time.

(Telegraf.rs)