The photo taken on Feb. 9, 2009 shows
the ablaze north wing building of the new CCTV (China Central Television)
headquarters in Beijing, capital of China. A fire broke out on Monday
night at the building, namely Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is about
hundreds of meters away from the new CCTV main tower in east Beijing.
(Chinese media/Li Wen)
Photo Gallery
BEIJING, Feb. 10 (Chinese media) -- A hotel adjacent to the
new China Central Television (CCTV) headquarters in Beijing caught fire Monday
night.
As of 0:45 a.m. Tuesday, the fire has been under
control, but blaze could still be seen on upper floors, witnesses said.
Seven people injured in the fire were rushed to the
Beijing Chaoyang Hospital. Six of the seven injured are firefighters and the
other is a CCTV worker. As of 0:30, three of them have been in coma. But doctors
said the seven were not life threatening.
Initial investigation showed that the fire had been
caused by illegal launches of firecrackers, said a spokesman with the Beijing
Municipal Government.
Firefighters found remnants of firecrackers on the
southern roof of the burning building.
The fire razed more than 100,000 square meters. An
atrium and a digital computer room in the building were burnt down.
The 159-meter building, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel,
is 200 meters away from the iconic CCTV main tower and part of the complex.
The photo taken on Feb. 9, 2009 shows
the ablaze north wing building of the new CCTV (China Central Television)
headquarters in Beijing, capital of China. A fire broke out on Monday
night at the building, namely Mandarin Oriental Hotel, which is about
hundreds of meters away from the new CCTV main tower in east Beijing.
(Chinese media/Li Wen)
Photo Gallery
The hotel was used during the Olympics, but the hotel
won't officially open until mid-2009. Witnesses said some lights had been on in
the hotel.
As Monday is China's traditional Lantern Festival,
the end of the Lunar New Year holiday, fireworks were being set off nearby.
A young man who declined to be identified said the
fire had apparently started at about 8:25 p.m. Monday, when firecrackers landed
on the top of the building. Police couldn't immediately confirm that account.
The man, who claimed he had worked with the
construction company that built the hotel, said he saw someone on watch on the
CCTV main tower with a hose when firecrackers were set off. "But I didn't see
any on top of the hotel," he added.
Beijingers had to stop selling or lighting fireworks
in the urban area of the capital as of midnight Monday, and explosives were
banned within Beijing's Fifth Ring Road. The area within that road is considered
the urban area.
The picture taken on the night of Feb.
9, 2009 shows a big fire is engulfing a building next to the new tower of
China Central Television (CCTV) in east Beijing. No casuality is reported
yet and the cause of the fire is under investigation.(Chinese media
Photo)
Photo
Gallery
More than 1,000 people in the area were evacuated and
traffic controls were imposed around the scene and on the east Third Ring Road,
one of several major highways that encircle the capital.
Service on the Number 10 subway line was temporarily
halted.
"It is horrible," said a woman surnamed Chang, who
lives on the19th floor of an apartment building about 1 kilometer from the CCTV
complex.
"There is thick black smoke and high flames. At first
we just saw fire on top of the building, but now it is entirely engulfed," she
said.
"The building was used during the Olympic Games, but
the companies moved out afterwards," said a CCTV staff member surnamed Chen,
adding that he didn't know whether there were still people in the building.
Firefighting was hampered by height of the building,
as water from the hoses could at most reach 40 meters high.
Beijing is dry during the season, as the city has not
seen any rainfall in 106 days.
Witnesses said that the flame was about 80 meters at
one time.
Snow-like ashes fell as far as 1 km from the building
and smoke eclipsed the full moon.
The picture taken on the night of Feb.
9, 2009 shows a big fire is engulfing a building next to the new tower of
China Central Television (CCTV) in east Beijing. No casuality is reported
yet and the cause of the fire is under invistigation. (Chinese media
Photo)
Photo
Gallery
The 241-room luxury facility, in the heart of the
capital's Central Business District, was intended to be Mandarin Oriental's
flagship property in China.
The first and second floors were used to make
programs during the Beijing Olympic Games.
Chen said that they were expected to move in after
October. Before the fire broke out, the interior was being decorated.
Liu Yunshan, head of the Communist Party of China
Central Committee Publicity Department, Beijing's Party chief Liu Qi and Beijing
Mayor Guo Jinlong rushed to the scene.
The hotel was designed by Dutch architect Rem
Koolhaas, whose other work, the CCTV tower, was listed as one of the wonders of
Chinese architecture by U.S.-based Business Week magazine and viewed as the most
radical structure in the country.
The tower, with a floor space of 495,900 square
meters, is composed of two segments, 234 meters and 194 meters high,
respectively, which lean six degrees. They were joined in December2007.
The huge project, for which the foundation was laid
in September 2004, finally won the central government's approval 18 months after
it had been halted due to worries about over-heated property investment as well
as traffic congestion fears.
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