Fire breaks out at TV tower in Moscow

MOSCOW, May 25 (Reuters) A fire broke out on a balcony high up on Moscow's 540-metre Ostankino television tower, Russia's Emergencies Ministry said.

The tower is one of the tallest free-standing structures in Europe. A fire there in 2000 killed three people and crippled television broadcasts. The tower caught fire again in April 2005, but no one was hurt.

''At 11:54 (1315hrs IST) we received a report of a fire at a height of 340 metres,'' said Yevgeny Bobylev, an Emergencies Ministry spokesman in Moscow.

''It was either a cable or a heater. It is on a balcony.

There is no fire or smoke inside the tower itself. Fifteen fire crews have been sent there.'' Russian news agencies said staff in the tower were being evacuated and that fire crews were reaching the fire via the stairs because the lifts were out of action.

REUTERS RJ HT1440