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Copenhagen police to begin forensic work as fire service hands over stock exchange

Copenhagen’s fire service has finished work at the old Stock Exchange after last week’s fire and has handed over the building to police and construction workers.

Copenhagen police to begin forensic work as fire service hands over stock exchange
Police can commence forensic investigation of Børsen seven days after the fire that gutted the historic building in Copenhagen. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

That means police can now access the burnt-out part of the building to commence forensic examinations, the fire service’s director Jakob Vedsted Andersen said at a short briefing this morning.

“The police have had difficulty getting into the building until we had stabilised it. We’re now getting to a stage where the police can get in and look at some things,” Andersen said.

The fire chief also said there is “no news” at this stage relating to identification of the cause of the fire.

However, police have been “on location a little bit” in addition to conducting investigations on the areas adjacent to Børsen, he said.

Meanwhile, the Copenhagen fire service (Hovedstadens Beredskab) will on Monday hand over the premises to a building contractor.

The construction firm will continue with work to remove scaffolding that was in place around the building at the time of the fire.

“We are going from what we call an accident site to a construction site. We are thereby handing over the building to [owner] the Danish Chamber of Commerce and its advisors,” Andersen said.

The 400-year-old stock exchange went up in flames on April 16th. Over half the building has burned including the iconic ‘Dragon Spire’ that stood atop it for centuries.

No injuries occurred during the fire.

The CEO of the Danish Chamber of Commerce, Brian Mikkelsen, has promised that the building will be restored.

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BREAKING

UPDATE: Fire at Novo Nordisk HQ outside Copenhagen now ‘under control’

The fire at an administrative building at Novo Nordisk's headquarters in Bagsværd is now "under control", Copenhagen fire services have said.

UPDATE: Fire at Novo Nordisk HQ outside Copenhagen now 'under control'

“After hours of hard work in the blazing sun, we have brought the fire under control,” Rasmus Storgaard, who is leading the emergency services’ efforts to extinguish the fire, told the broadcaster TV2. 

He said that his 70-strong team were now waiting for cranes that could help with the clean-up and extinguishing work, but that most of the necessary equipment and personnel were now in place, with some 20 fire engines involved. 

“With the capabilities that are now in the fight, you will probably see more or less normal operations out here again tomorrow,” he said .

Novo Nordisk told Ritzau that the fire had started outside a building and then spread to nearby office buildings. According to Novo Nordisk, the smoke is not toxic, and there are no injuries. 

In a written statement to DR Nyheder, Novo Nordisk said: “A fire broke out today outside a building at Novo Nordisk in Bagsværd. The fire has spread to an office building. The fire brigade is present and starting the extinguishing work, which is expected to last for the next few hours. The smoke is not toxic and there are no injuries.”

On the social media site X, Copenhagen Vestegns Police warned people to go inside and close doors and windows if they are in a smoky area.

Martin Kjærsgaard, the officer on duty for the fire services, told TV2 that the administrative building affected would either collapse or have to be demolished. He predicted at about 2pm that the fire would not be extinguished before 10pm at the earliest. 

“The entire roof has collapsed, but the floor below with offices and laboratories is not damaged by fire,” Storgaard told DR. 

Duty manager at Copenhagen Vestegns Police, Thomas Christensen said the smoke from the fire had caused some minor inconvenience to the traffic on the nearby Hillerød motorway. P4 Trafik has since updated on X that the smoke is no longer a problem for motorists.

The smoke disrupted traffic on Route 16, known in Denmark as the Hillerødmotorvejen. Photo: Liselotte Sabroe/Ritzau Scanpix

On May 16th, another fire broke out on a roof at a new building being constructed by Novo Nordisk at its site in Kalundborg, creating a pillar of dark smoke that could be seen frm 30km away. 

A fire at a construction site at Novo Nordisk in Kalundborg on May 16th. Photo: Jokum Tord Larsen/Ritzau Scanpix

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