This is what the Stock Exchange in Copenhagen looks like after the outer walls collapsed on Thursday. Photo: Thomas Traasdahl / Ritzau Scanpix / AP / NTB
Of NTB | 18.04.2024 22:23:05
Accidents and natural disasters: The collapse was captured on live images from the fire-ravaged building. It is the outer wall facing Børsgade and the gable facing the castle square at Christiansborg that have collapsed.
Several emergency vehicles moved out when the walls collapsed, according to the report Television 2.
At a press conference before 6 p.m., Tim Ole Simonsen, the emergency manager of the fire and rescue agency Hovedstadens Beredskab, says that there were people in the building when the wall collapsed.
– We had damage inspection crews inside other parts of the building when the wall collapsed, says Simonsen.
An attempt was made to stack containers along the building to prevent the walls from collapsing, but in the end it was not successful. The aim was to retain as much as possible of the historic brick walls in the building from the 17th century.
The description of the injuries on Thursday is discouraging.
– The damage could hardly have been worse. I can’t describe it as anything other than a ruin, says Simonsen.
The fire crews have brought in large machinery, including a fire engine from Kastrup Airport with an extra long ladder.
It is a central part of the plan.
– It will happen by some large machines with metal shears cutting the scaffolding to pieces, says director of emergency preparedness, Jakob Vedsted Andersen.
He says they cannot rule out more of the building collapsing, as it will trigger tensions when the scaffolding that surrounded the building is removed.
– Now all work in the building must be reassessed. There is still a risk of collapse in the remaining parts of the building, says the project manager.
The fire in Børsen started at 7.30 on Tuesday morning. Shortly after 8 o’clock the building’s famous dragon spire was engulfed in flames, and half an hour later it collapsed.
According to Simonsen, the crew left the building as soon as the walls collapsed. None of the crew were injured, and there should be no other people inside the building.
Beyond Thursday evening, an action plan has been drawn up for how the remaining brick walls of the building can be saved.
The cause of the fire has not yet been found, and Thursday’s collapse means that the work to find it may take time.