Massive hearth hits Copenhagen’s Old Stock Exchange in Danish capital | EUROtoday

“An important part of our architectural heritage was and still is in flames,” King Frederik X wrote in a submit on Instagram. “For generations, the characteristic dragon spire has helped to define Copenhagen as the ‘city of towers.’”

In photographs: Fire breaks out at Denmark inventory trade constructing

People rushed into the constructing to assist save the constructing’s in depth assortment of historic art work. The National Museum additionally despatched 25 workers to the scene to assist evacuate the artwork, it tweeted.

“We have been able to rescue a lot,” Brian Mikkelsen, chief of the Danish Chamber of Commerce informed reporters. “It is a national disaster.” He and his workers had been seen flipping via binders of photographs showcasing the constructing’s artworks to find out what had been saved, in accordance with AP.

Mikkelsen, who himself helped avoid wasting artworks, mentioned instruments had for use to take away them.

“Terrible pictures from the Stock Exchange this morning,” tweeted Danish Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt. “400 years of Danish cultural heritage in flames.”

The hearth was first reported at 7:30 a.m. Copenhagen hearth division head Jakob Vedsted Andersen informed reporters that the blaze, which started within the constructing’s copper roof, had unfold to a number of flooring of the constructing.

“The facades are still standing, but they are starting to give way as the construction burns away,” Vedsted Andersen informed reporters, including that “we are trying everything we can to protect the facades, but we cannot give any guarantees.”

The hearth division mentioned that scaffolding across the constructing, presently in place for renovations, made it more durable for emergency providers to succeed in the flames, whereas copper roof was preserving the warmth.

The reason for the hearth was not initially clear.

The incident was Denmark’s “Notre Dame moment,” Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen wrote on X, recalling the pictures of the burning Paris cathedral that was severely broken 5 years in the past.

Commissioned by Christian IV, King of Denmark and Norway, building of the Dutch Renaissance-style constructing started in 1619, with the primary retailers on the decrease flooring already in use in 1624.

Unsatisfied with what he noticed as building neared completion, the king mentioned the constructing appeared extra like a warehouse than a royal constructing and instructed the architect, to redo the roof.

He additionally known as for the addition of the now well-known spired tower and its 4 dragons, which had been later mentioned to guard the trade from enemies and hearth.

“It has succeeded well. Neighboring buildings and Christiansborg Palace have been in flames,” the Chamber of Commerce wrote on their web site, referring to the house of the Danish parliament which has been dogged by hearth. “But the dragons have looked after Borsen.”

The ongoing renovation of the Borsen was scheduled to coincide with the constructing’s four-hundredth anniversary and to appropriate errors made in an 1883 restoration.