By SCOTT MacLEOD and AGENCIES
Three Russians were feared dead after a blaze ripped through the upper half of Moscow's high-rise Ostankino media tower, the world's second-tallest building.
In a morbid echo of this month's Kursk submarine tragedy, it was believed the three - two civilians and a firefighter - died from lack of oxygen after they became trapped in a lift.
The once-proud Moscow landmark was left listing slightly, the top third of the concrete and metal structure destroyed before flames finally were doused early today.
The disaster is believed to have started when electrical wires short-circuited late on Sunday (local time). Three big television stations that relayed broadcasts from the tower blacked out, cutting transmission to 10 million Muscovites.
More than 240 firefighters used hoses, helicopters and searchlights to contain the flames.
Firefighting chief Mikhail Serikov said: "We have never seen anything like this."
Fire crews cut burning cables threaded through the building in a bid to quell the blaze. Thousands of spectators were pushed back to a 700m perimeter as billowing smoke engulfed the top half of the tower.
At 540m, the Ostankino ranks behind only the 553m CN tower in Toronto. Auckland's Sky Tower is 328m high.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov told reporters that experts thought it unlikely the tower would topple, but news services speculated that a thin spire on top was growing unstable and rescue workers said the tower's steel-wire skeleton could be damaged by intense heat.
Moscow prosecutors launched a criminal probe, citing an article of the criminal code which covers damage to property as a result of negligence.
Interior Ministry officers and Federal Security Service (ex-KGB) investigators arrived to inspect damage to a tower that was also reportedly the base for some of Russia's most important intelligence-gathering devices.
President Vladimir Putin said: "This new accident shows the shape of sensitive installations and the country in general. We must fight for economic success."
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