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IMMIGRATION

Fire ravages refugee housing facility

A violent fire erupted at a refugee housing facility in central Sweden early Tuesday morning, forcing the evacuation of 80 residents and sending at least three people to hospital.

Published: 31 January 2012 08:28 CET
Fire ravages refugee housing facility

The facility is operated by the Swedish Migration Board (Migrationsverket) and is located at Gamla Nalles motel in Arboga in central Sweden.

The fire broke out in the facility’s restaurant.

Fire crews received a call about the fire around 3.40am, but by the time they arrived, the blaze had ravaged much of the building.

“The restaurant area is completely engulfed,” firefigher Conny Larsson told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

Around 80 refugees housed at the facility have been evacuated. Three people were taken to hospital with smoke-related injuries, but it remains unclear how serious their injuries are.

By Tuesday morning, the fire had been brought under control and police are now waiting for the flames to be completely extinguished before launching a forensic investigation.

“It’s a pretty large, long building. The restaurant area was burned quite significantly,” Västmanland police spokesperson Terje Lund told the TT news agency.

The evacuees were taken to a parish house run in Arboga by the Church of Sweden where they were met by members of the municipality’s crisis group.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

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FIRE

Situation ‘unstable’ at Copenhagen’s old stock exchange after fire

Three days after a fire which ravaged Copenhagen's historic former stock exchange broke out, emergency services said Friday that the situation was "unstable" due to equipment issues and a strong breeze.

Published: 19 April 2024 17:44 CEST
Situation 'unstable' at Copenhagen's old stock exchange after fire

In the morning, during work to dismantle the scaffolding surrounding the building, a crane’s cutters came loose for as of yet unknown reasons.

It is currently wedged between the scaffolding — put up for the renovation of the historic building that was ongoing — and what remains of the walls.

“It is affecting our efforts”, Tim Ole Simonsen, leader of the operation at the rescue services, told a press conference.

Coupled with the wind picking up, the incident, which has temporarily halted work on dismantling the scaffolding, has made the situation “unstable”.

“The wind is blowing harder and harder, and there are tarps over the scaffolding that can catch the wind,” Simonsen said.

He added that this increases the risks, in particular of further collapse of the burnt-out facade which started collapsing late Thursday afternoon.

Located close to the Christiansborg parliament and seat of government, the Borsen building was commissioned by King Christian IV and built between 1619 and 1640. It was the stock exchange until the 1970s.

The fire began Tuesday morning under the copper roof of the building, which was undergoing renovations ahead of its 400th anniversary.

The cause of the blaze was unknown and Copenhagen police said Wednesday that a major investigation had been launched.

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