This morning Belgrade woke up to a column of black smoke over New Belgrade. A fire broke out in the „Enyub" shopping centre on Yuri Gagarin Street, and 40 firefighters went to the scene, working to put it out and stop it spreading to neighbouring buildings.

Firefighters in protective gear and masks are going into the thick smoke, cutting away parts of the roof structure and putting out the fire from the inside. According to eyewitnesses, the fire engulfed several shops, and the biggest challenge is the roof, which keeps smouldering and burning. The thick smoke can be seen from various parts of the city, and traffic in the area is slowed down.

Residents of the surrounding buildings have been warned not to open their windows because of the smoke, and ambulance crews have been deployed on site as a precaution. According to official information, there are no injuries - for now the only good news on a morning that many won't easily forget.

Fires in shopping centres are a reminder of something the Balkans know all too well: buildings full of people, while fire protection is often the last thing anyone thinks about until it catches alight. Lucky that this time no one was inside at the wrong moment. But the question that hangs over every fire like this is the same - how many of these buildings, both here and at our neighbours', actually meet the standards everyone claims on paper to respect?