(18 Apr 2012) HEADLINE Raw Video: Skyscraper fire in Moscow
CAPTION: Fire struck a Moscow skyscraper that is set to be Europe''s tallest when construction is finished. The building''s development company said a broken light caused the fire. No injuries were reported. (April 2)
[Location - Date:MOSCOW -- APRIL 2 -- AP TELEVISION]
STORYLINE:
Huge flames that lit up the night sky danced for hours on Monday, atop an under-construction Moscow skyscraper that is set to be Europe''s tallest when complete.
No injuries were reported in the fire at the eastern part of the Federation Tower complex that was visible from much of the Russian capital''s western half.
Two firefighting helicopters encircled the blaze, dumping huge buckets of water on the flames before the Emergencies Ministry said the fire was under some degree of control at about 11:30 p.m. (1930 GMT), some three hours after it began.
The cause of the fire some 250 metres (880 feet) above street-level was not immediately determined.
But Nikita Zhuravlev, the official representative of Potok 8, the development company constructing the tower said a broken light started the blaze.
"At 8.00 pm a broken plastic banner hit the light projector. Construction work is going 24 hours a day and the building area is lit by the projectors. The banner hit the projector and that ?aused the fire," he said.
Zhuravlev went on to claim that the emergency service helicopters hampered the initial containment of the fire.
"The helicopter that started to blow out the fire was flying too low, that caused the spreading of the fire on the roof."
The Federation Tower is part of a massive development on the banks of the Moscow River about 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) west of the Kremlin.
When completed, it is to consist of two glass-sheathed office towers flanking a mast reaching 560 meters.
The tower that caught on fire is to reach up to 360 metres tall (1150 feet), which would make it Europe''s tallest building, exceeding the current record-holder, the 302-metre (990-foot) City of Capitals building in the same development as the Federation Tower, and another building in the complex, the Mercury City Tower, which is 332 metres (1089 feet) tall.
Russian news reports said the fire engulfed 300 square metres (3200 square feet) at its height.
Firefighters were forced to climb stairs to reach the blaze because elevators are not yet in service, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
In August 2000, Moscow''s 540-metre (1,771-foot) Ostankino broadcasting tower, once the world''s tallest freestanding structure, caught fire and burned for 26 hours.
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