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FIRE

Channel Tunnel services resume after fire

Train service through the Channel Tunnel between France and Britain resumed early Sunday, a day after a lorry fire forced the crucial link's closure and suspension of all trains, operator Eurotunnel said.

Channel Tunnel services resume after fire
Photo: Denis Charlet/AFP

"Our passenger service is currently operating to schedule with up to one departure per hour," the firm said on its website.

Services resumed from Britain at 2:45 am local time and from France at 4.30am, it said on Twitter.

Eurostar, which offers passenger rail services between London, Brussels and Paris, said schedules would return to normal on Sunday.

The fire Saturday forced all Eurostar trains already en route to turn back to their stations of origin, while 42 people were evacuated from the truck shuttle using the service tunnel.

Police in southern England have said the fire was "at the French end of the tunnel and is being dealt with by the French authorities."

"There are no reported injuries," police added.

The fire sparked travel chaos in Britain and France with long queues for refunds reported at London's St. Pancras station.

In November 2012, a fire on a freight train halted traffic in the tunnel for two hours.

Four years earlier, a lorry fire caused major damage in the tunnel, affecting 650 metres of the structure and gumming up traffic for 30 hours.

Some 400 trains and 1.5 million lorries pass through the tunnel every day.

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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.

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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