Fire in Damascus mall kills five

A fire ripped through a shopping centre in the Syrian capital Damascus early Tuesday, killing at least five people, state media reported.

Firefighters have "extinguished a blaze that broke out at dawn today in the La Mirada Mall building," reports AFP citing the official SANA news agency which referred to a Damascus fire department official.

"Four people have been rescued and five corpses have been recovered so far," SANA added.

The cause of the fire was not immediately clear.

Images published by the pro-government al-Watan newspaper showed large firetrucks outside the mall in the al-Hamra district of Damascus.

In one image, smoke billowed out of the windows of the shopping centre as flames appeared to have engulfed every floor. 

AFP could not independently verify the authenticity of the images.