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FIRE

School torched following Swedish teens’ failed hand gel tests

Two teens playing with alcohol-based hand sanitizer inadvertently burned down a school in Södertälje, south of Stockholm.

“This is a case of youthful negligence,” Matti Paavo of the Södertälje police told the Expressen newspaper.

Back in August, the two boys, ages 15 and 16, decided to test the flammability of their newly purchased hand sanitizer by writing their names with the substance on windows and sections of the façade at the Hovsjö school.

They then set the script alight.

Believing the alcohol-based liquid l had burned out, the two youths then left the area.

But as it turned out, the flames continued to burn in a slow-burning and nearly invisible flame which eventually spread to the wooden panel trim on the building’s exterior.

From there, the fire then spread up the walls toward the roof, sparking a strong enough blaze that firefighters were called less than 10 minutes after the boys had initially sprayed hand sanitizer on the school.

And despite the best efforts of fire crews, the school was totally destroyed.

The two teenagers are now suspected of arson, although police don’t believe they purposefully burned down the school.

“It was a game. They have no other explanation other than that they wanted to test things out and see what happened,” Paavo told the newspaper.

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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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