Huge columns of black smoke rose over the vast area. Firefighters said that more than 80 percent of the Maryewelska 44 shopping complex, located in the Białoleka district of Warsaw, burned and its roof collapsed.
Police reported no casualties, but shop owners felt desperate as they lost their livelihoods. Daily Gazeta Wyborcza reported that some Vietnamese vendors wanted to enter to rescue their goods from the complex, but security officers prevented them.
The Association of Vietnamese Businessmen in Poland said the fire caused “huge financial losses to merchants” and described it as “a terrible tragedy for thousands of merchants and their families.”
Chemical and environmental rescue specialists were among the many rescue officials involved in the operation. The authorities sent a text message warning Warsaw residents about the fire and asking them to stay in their homes with their windows closed.
Mirpod, an industrial construction company listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange, owns the shopping centre.
Warsaw police said they had begun investigating the fire, which broke out around 3:30 a.m. local time, but had not yet determined the cause.
The Warsaw city administration plans to discuss financial aid for small traders whose livelihoods were destroyed on Monday.
Shopping malls and department stores are usually closed on Sundays due to a trade ban imposed by the previous government, which had close ties to the Catholic Church. However, small traders are exempt from this ban, and many small shops in the center operate on Sundays.
