RUSSIA: TWO FIREFIGHTERS KILLED AS FIRE DESTROYS HISTORIC MANEGE BUILDING IN CENTRAL MOSCOW

Record ID: 376106

  • Title: RUSSIA: TWO FIREFIGHTERS KILLED AS FIRE DESTROYS HISTORIC MANEGE BUILDING IN CENTRAL MOSCOW
  • Date: 14th March 2004
  • Summary: (U7) MOSCOW, RUSSIA (MARCH 14, 2004) (REUTERS) (NIGHTSHOTS) 1. VARIOUS OF INTENSE FIRE BURNING AT THE HISTORIC MANEGE BUILDING/ TRAFFIC ON STREET NEARBY (2 SHOTS) 2. FLAMES ON ROOF OF BUILDING/ SMOKE 0.30 3. PEOPLE WATCHING SCENE FROM PAVEMENT 0.38 4. VARIOUS OF FLAMES (4 SHOTS) 1.05 5. FIREFIGHTERS AT SCENE/ ARRIVING AT SCENE 1.21 6. FIREFIGHTERS TACKLING BLAZE WITH WATER HOSES/ DOUSING SIDE OF BUILDING 1.27 7. FIREFIGHTERS IN STREET/ FIRE BURNING 8. VARIOUS FIREFIGHTERS OF LADDER /FIRE ENGINE AT SCENE (3 SHOTS) 1.56 9. SMOKE RISING 2.03 10. WS: FLAMES ON MANEGE BUILDING 2.12 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 29th March 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA
  • Country: Russia
  • Reuters ID: LVA15P27L9G9QMY6USICKT1D1OWB
  • Story Text: Two firefighters killed as flames destroy historic
    building in the centre of Moscow.


    A major fire broke out within sight of the Kremlin
    on Sunday (March 14), just minutes after Vladimir Putin was
    declared victor in Russia's presidential election.

    The fire gutted the 19th-century Manege building used
    during Tsarist days as a riding centre, turned by the
    Bolsheviks into a garage and used since the Soviet era as
    an exhibition centre.

    Moscow's fire service said two firefighters were killed
    fighting the blaze, as flames engulfed the wooden roof of
    the neo-classical building, sending beams crashing to the
    ground.

    Mayor Yuri Luzhkov ruled out both terrorism and arson,
    saying the most likely cause of the blaze was a
    short-circuit in the building's air conditioning system.

    A grim-faced Luzhkov told reporters after visiting the
    scene, that it will be possible to restore the Manege
    building.

    Much of the roof collapsed within an hour of fire
    erupting at 9:14 p.m. (1814 GMT), but the building's
    neo-classical walls withstood the fire, which some 200
    firefighters extinguished after it had blazed for over
    three hours.

    Plumes of flame shot over 20 metres (65 feet) into the
    air, forcing firefighters on extendable ladders to retreat.

    Fire crews doused nearby university buildings to stop them
    catching fire from burning debris.

    No artworks were lost in the fire, as the Manege had
    been empty ahead of the opening of a new exhibition next
    week.


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