The death toll in a fire in a luxury apartment building in the central Moscow has risen to eight, Russian media reported on Monday.

A view of an apartment building in Nikitsky Boulevard in central Moscow hit by a large-scale fire. [Photo: VCG]

"As of the present moment, the investigation has information about eight fatalities, including two children," spokesperson for the Russian Investigative Committee's Head Department for Moscow Yulia Ivanova was cited by Tass news agency as saying.

Sputnik news agency reported the same number of casualties, citing a source from the emergencies ministry.

The committee has opened a criminal case on the grounds of negligence causing the death of two or more persons, the Investigative Committee said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, the committee said that six people had been killed in the fire.

The fire broke out at 0:55 a.m. Monday (9:55 p.m. Sunday GMT) in an apartment on the fifth floor of the seven-floor building, the ministry said in a statement.

The fire-fighting operation, which involved 25 units of equipment and 80 people, lasted more than four hours because the fire was spreading fast in the house built in 1914 with wood beams, it said.

Fire fighters evacuated 42 people including eight children from the building, the ministry said.