MOSCOW, Dec 25 — A woman was killed in a fire when a drone fell on a shopping mall in Russia’s North Ossetia region early Wednesday, local authorities said.

The blaze at the four-storey Alania Mall in Vladikavkaz, the main city in the Caucasus region, was caused by the debris of a drone hit by an air defence system, Russia’s defence ministry said.

Another drone came down Wednesday in the town of Malgobek in the neighbouring Russian republic of Ingushetia without causing damage or injuries, regional leader Makhmoud-Ali Kalimatov said.

According to channels on Russian Telegram social media network, the North Ossetia fire erupted before the shopping centre opened on Wednesday and killed a cleaner.

Television images showed a spiral of smoke atop the rainbow-coloured building. Russia’s emergency services department said the blaze broke out on one of the upper floors. — AFP