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FIRE

‘Psychotic’ patients left with no running water

Patients in a psychiatric clinic in Lund have been without running water for two days after a nearby fire cut off their supply, leaving many mentally ill patients unable to shower or flush the toilet.

'Psychotic' patients left with no running water

“This is disastrous,” said nurse Corinna Jarfjord to Sydsvenskan newspaper.

“Many of these patients are psychotic, and don’t understand why the water’s not running.”

105 patients are cared for at the Sankt Lars clinic in Lund, southern Sweden, however this task has been no easy feat for the staff over the past two days.

The staff members have been forced to fetch water from a tank nearby so that the patients are able to use the facilities, and no extra nurses have been deployed to help.

According to the paper, the cause of the problem was a fire in a nearby school, where old pipes in the area burst from the increased pressure during the extinguishing of the fire.

Meanwhile, Jarfjord is furious and claims that the water supply should have been fixed a long time ago.

“If this was a major hospital, I am certain it would have been fixed within the hour,” she told the paper.

Nurses are concerned that the lack of water poses other problems too, as some of the patients have been known to set fires in their rooms. While Jarfjord acknowledges the clinic’s fire extinguishers should suffice, she claims it’s impossible to predict the possible damages if a fire begins.

Jarfjord is now threatening to close down the ward sections of the clinic if the pipes are not fixed on Wednesday, as has been promised.

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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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