Massive fire engulfs historic Saint Petersburg factory

A huge fire was burning in a historic factory in Russia's second city Saint Petersburg on Monday, sending clouds of black smoke over the city.

Forty people had been evacuated, while two firefighters had been hospitalised and contact lost with another one, the ministry said.

The enormous factory, founded as a cloth manufacturer in 1841, was engulfed in flames, AFP journalists at the scene said.

The factory was nationalised and run as a state entity during the Soviet period, then privatised in 1992.