A large fire has broken out at the Russian Embassy in the Philippine capital, prompting the evacuation of employees and their families but causing no injuries, Russian and Filipino authorities said.
Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the hourslong fire, which started on the second floor of the embassy on the evening of February 4 and caused serious damage, the Philippine Bureau of Fire Protection said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said all embassy employees were safely evacuated.
"There are no victims or injured. Employees and members of their families who were in the embassy were evacuated," the ministry said in a statement on February 5.
More than a dozen firetrucks helped to extinguish the blaze in the upscale, tightly guarded neighborhood in Manila where several embassies and diplomatic residences are located.