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IMMIGRATION

Planned Norway asylum centre destroyed by fire

Early on Tuesday morning, a fire broke out a planned asylum centre in Hol Municipality in Hallingdal that left the building completely destroyed.

Published: 10 May 2016 09:00 CEST
Planned Norway asylum centre destroyed by fire
The former boarding house was due to hose 64 asylum seekers. Photo: Stian Strand / NTB scanpix
Police were notified of the fire at 4.52am on Tuesday. 
 
“The building has suffered great damage but it hasn’t burned completely down. It’s possible the fire brigade will monitor a controlled burn,” police spokesman Ole Kristian Nerby told NTB. 
 
Nerby said it was too early to say anything about the cause of the fire but confirmed that no one was in the building when the fire was discovered. 
 
The building was approved for use as an asylum centre in January. The former boarding house was due to host 64 asylum seekers. 
 
In December, two people were charged with arson for setting fire to a hotel scheduled to house asylum seekers in southwest Norway. That fire was praised on several anti-refugee Facebook pages with warning that “this won’t be the last fire”. 
 

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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