Old Copenhagen Stock Exchange building catches fire

COPENHAGEN, Denmark.— This Tuesday morning, a fire broke out that devastated the historic building of the old Copenhagen stock exchange and, following five hours of fighting, was still out of control, part of the roof had collapsed and the authorities No injuries have been reported.

When the fire, whose causes are still unknown, was declared at 7:30 a.m. local time (5:30 GMT), ten workers from the company that is restoring the building – which has been under construction since 2022 – were inside, and they left on their own. standing and unharmed, Danish media reported.

The fire has affected half of the building and, although firefighters have been able to prevent it from spreading to the other, they have not been able to control it yet.

“We continue fighting the flames. New complications have arisen. As the interior support structures burned, the walls have become destabilized. “That is what we are focusing on now,” said the director of the Copenhagen Emergency Services, Jakob Vedsted Andersen.

Andersen highlighted that the building is surrounded by scaffolding and that it cannot be ruled out that the construction collapses.

The fire started under the roof, which has copper elements and is difficult to access, and this allowed the flames to gain intensity and spread to the rest of the building’s floors.

The building, one of the oldest preserved in Copenhagen, was built between 1619 and 1623 by order of the rey Christian IV and it functioned as the Danish capital’s stock exchange until 1974.

It was currently the headquarters of the Chamber of Commerce and its façade and roof were being restored, a process that was scheduled to be completed in 2029.

“This morning we woke up with a sad image, when the smoke on the roofs of Copenhagen reflected the destructive fire in the stock market,” the rey Federico Xwho thanked the emergency personnel and the police for their work to prevent injuries.

Various wings of Castillo de Christiansborgheadquarters of Parliament, which is located near the burning building, have been evacuated as a precaution.

The Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksendescribed the fire as “horrible” and regretted that “a piece of Danish history” was burning, while the Minister of Defense, Troels Lund Poulsenreferred to the event as “our Notre Dame moment,” alluding to the fire of the famous Paris cathedral in 2019.

According to experts cited in the media, it is possible that the restoration work has increased the risk of fire, although it is still unknown what caused the fire.

You might also be interested: “Five years following the fire, the glory of Notre Dame revives”

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